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THE LIFE AND STRANGE 
SURPRISING ADVENTURES 

OF 

ROBINSON 

CRUSOE 

BY 

DANIEL DEFOE 

, 

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

E. BOYD SMITH 



HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
<€b e flitierjeiibe ^tejM Cambridge 
I 9°9 





COPYRIGHT, I909, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 


a 


• « 

« 


©GU25 ! 228 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Robinson Crusoe rescues Friday ( p. 292 )Colored Frontispiece 
My father gave me excellent counsel i 

The punch was made and I was made drunk 8 

Surprised by a Turkish rover 23 

If you come near the boat I ’ll shoot you {colored) 30 

I HE WIND DRIVING US TOWARD THE SHORE 46 

P 

Struggling to reach the shore {colored) 62 

With the cargo I put to sea 67 

I ENLARGED MY CAVE 84 

Driving these poles was tedious work 90 

All my goods in such order {colored) 96 

I BEGAN TO KEEP A JOURNAL 98 

It was a barrel of gunpowder i i 8 

I TOOK UP THE BIBLE AND BEGAN TO READ I30 

SO WEAK THAT I COULD HARDLY CARRY THE GUN {colored) 1 32 
I FAIRLY DESCRIED LAND I5I 

I FIRED AGAIN AND KILLED THREE OF THEM 158 

I HAD SEED ENOUGH TO SOW ABOUT AN ACRE OF GROUND I70 

Burning the earthen pots {colored) 174 


Vlll 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Finding it impossible to heave her 178 

Robinson Crusoe, where are you ? 195 

Carried by the current away from the island ( colored ) 200 
My dog sat always at my right hand 208 

I CONTRIVED TO PLANT THE MUSKETS 221 

The print of a man’s naked foot on the shore ( colored ) 222 
The shore spread with the bones of human bodies 234 

I TOOK MY FIREBRAND AND IN I RUSHED 249 „ 

As MY FIRE BLAZED UP I HEARD ANOTHER GUN 261 

There were no less than nine naked savages ( colored ) 262 ^ 
When I came close to her a dog appeared 271 

Almost as well clothed as his master 289 

I FIRED, AND BADE HIM LOOK 3O4 

I WAS RESOLVED TO GO DOWN AND KILL THEM ALL 32O 

In about a month’s hard labor we finished it { colored ) 328 
He told me that it was his father 337 

Loosing his hands and feet I lifted him { colored ) 346 
We perceived them all coming on shore again 363 
What are ye, gentlemen ? { colored ) 366 

He clothed me from head to foot 384 

Friday accompanied me in all these ramblings 399 

Friday stepped up close to him and shot him dead 418 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 




I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, 
of a good family, though not of that country, 
my father being a foreigner of Bremen, named 
Kreutznaer, who settled first at Hull. He got a 
good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his 
trade, lived afterwards at York, from whence he had 
married my mother, whose relations were named 
Robinson, a very good family in that country, and 
after whom I was so called, that is to say, Robin- 
son Kreutznaer; but, by the usual corruption of 
words in England, we are now called, nay, we call 
ourselves, and write our name, Crusoe; and so my 
companions always called me. 

I had two elder brothers, one of whom was 
lieutenant-colonel to an English regiment of foot 
in Flanders, formerly commanded by the famous 
Colonel Lockhart, and was killed at the battle near 
Dunkirk against the Spaniards. What became of 
my second brother, I never knew, any more than 
my father and mother did know what was become 
of me. 


2 THE ADVENTURES OF 

Being the third son of the family, and not bred 
to any trade, my head began to be filled very early 
with rambling thoughts. My father, who was very 
aged, had given me a competent share of learn- 
ing, as far as house education and a country free 
school generally go, and designed me for the law; 
but I would be satisfied with nothing but going 
to sea ; and my inclination to this led me so strongly 
against the will, nay, the commands of my father, 
and against all the entreaties and persuasions of 
my mother and other friends, that there seemed 
to be something fatal in that propension of nature, 
tending directly to the life of misery which was to 
befall me. 

My father, a wise and grave man, gave me se- 
rious and excellent counsel against what he foresaw 
was my design. He called me one morninginto his 
chamber, where he was confined by the gout, and 
expostulated very warmly with me upon this sub- 
ject: he asked me what reasons, more than a mere 
wandering inclination, I had for leaving his house, 
and my native country, where I might be well in- 
troduced, and had a prospect of raising my fortune, 
by application and industry, with a life of ease and 
pleasure. He told me it was men of desperate for- 
tunes, on one hand, or of superior fortunes, on the 
other, who went abroad upon adventures, aspiring 
to rise by enterprise, and make themselves famous 
in undertakings of a nature out of the common 
road; that these things were all either too far above 
me, or too far below me; that mine was the mid- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3 

die state, or what might be called the upper sta- 
tion of low life, which he had found, by long ex- 
perience, was the best state in the world, the most 
suited to human happiness; not exposed to the 
miseries and hardships, the labour and sufferings, 
of the mechanic part of mankind, and not em- 
barrassed with the pride, luxury, ambition, and 
envy of the upper part of mankind : he told me, I 
might judge of the happiness of this state by one 
thing, viz. that this was the state of life which all 
other people envied; that kings have frequently 
lamented the miserable consequences of being born 
to great things, and wished they had been placed 
in the middle of two extremes, between the mean 
and the great; that the wise man gave his testimony 
to this as the just standard of true felicity, when 
he prayed to have “ neither poverty nor riches.” 

He bade me observe it, and I should always find, 
that the calamities of life were shared among the 
upper and lower part of mankind; but that the 
middle station had the fewest disasters, and was 
not exposed to so many vicissitudes as the higher 
or lower part of mankind : nay, they were not sub- 
jected to so many distempers and uneasinesses, either 
of body or mind, as those were, who, by vicious 
living, luxury, and extravagancies, on one hand, or, 
by hard labour, want of necessaries, and mean and 
insufficient diet, on the other hand, bring distem- 
pers upon themselves by the natural consequences 
of their way of living; that the middle station of 
life was calculated for all kind of virtues, and all 


4 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


kind ofenjoyments; that peace and plenty were the 
handmaids of a middle fortune; that temperance, 
moderation, quietness, health, society, all agreeable 
diversions, and all desirable pleasures were the 
blessings attending the middle station of life; that 
this way men went silently and smoothly through 
the world, and comfortably out of it, not embar- 
rassed with the labours of the hands or of the head, 
not sold to the life of slavery for daily bread, or 
harassed with perplexed circumstances, which rob 
the soul of peace, and the body of rest; not en- 
raged with the passion of envy, or secret burning 
lust of ambition for great things; but, in easy cir- 
cumstances, sliding gently through the world, and 
sensibly tasting the sweets of living, without the 
bitter; feeling that they are happy, and learning by 
every day’s experience, to know it more sensibly. 

After this he pressed me earnestly, and in the 
most affectionate manner, not to play the young 
man, nor to precipitate myself into miseries which 
nature, and the station of life I was born in, seemed 
to have provided against; that I was under no ne- 
cessity of seeking my bread ; that he would do well 
for me, and endeavour to enter me fairly into the 
station of life which he had been just recommending 
to me ; and that if I was not very easy and happy 
in the world, it must be my mere fate, or fault, that 
must hinder it; and that he should have nothing 
to answer for, having thus discharged his duty in 
warning me against measures which he knew would 
be to my hurt : in a word, that as he would do very 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


5 

kind things for me if I would stay and settle at 
home as he directed ; so he would not have so much 
hand in my misfortunes as to give me any encour- 
agement to go away : and, to close all, he told me 
I had my elder brother for an example, to whom 
he had used the same earnest persuasions to keep 
him from going into the Low Country wars; but 
could not prevail, his young desires prompting him 
to run into the army, where he was killed; and 
though, he said, he would not cease to pray for me, 
yet he would venture to say to me, that if I did 
take this foolish step, God would not bless me; 
and I would have leisure, hereafter, to reflect upon 
having neglected his counsel, when there might be 
none to assist in my recovery. 

I observed, in this last part of his discourse, 
which was truly prophetic, though, I suppose, my 
father did not know it to be so himself; I say, I 
observed the tears run down his face very plenti- 
fully, especially when he spoke of my brother who 
was killed; and that, when he spoke of my having 
leisure to repent, and none to assist me, he was so 
moved, that he broke off the discourse, and told 
me his heart was so full he could say no more to 
me. 

I was sincerely affected with this discourse ; as, 
indeed, who could be otherwise ? and I resolved 
not to think of going abroad any more, but to set- 
tle at home, according to my father’s desire. But 
alas! a few days wore it all off: and, in short, to 
prevent any of my father’s further importunities, 


6 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


in a few weeks after I resolved to run quite away 
from him. However, I did not act so hastily, neither, 
as my first heat of resolution prompted ; but I took 
my mother, at a time when I thought her a little 
pleasanter than ordinary, and told her that my 
thoughts were so entirely bent upon seeing the 
world, that I should never settle to anything with 
resolution enough to go through with it, and my 
father had better give me his consent than force 
me to go without it; that I was now eighteen years 
old, which was too late to go apprentice to a trade, 
or clerk to an attorney : that I was sure, if I did, I 
should never serve out my time, and I should cer- 
tainly run away from my master before my time 
was out, and go to sea; and if she would speak to 
my father to let me make but one voyage abroad, 
if I came home again, and did not like it, I would 
go no more ; and I would promise by a double 
diligence, to recover the time I had lost. 

This put my mother into a great passion : she 
told me she knew it would be to no purpose to 
speak to my father upon any such a subject; that 
he knew too well what was my interest to give his 
consent to anything so much for my hurt; and that 
she wondered how I could think of any such thing, 
after such a discourse as I had from my father, and 
such kind and tender expressions as she knew my 
father had used to me; and that, in short, if I would 
ruin myself, there was no help for me ; but I might 
depend I should never have their consent to it : 
that for her part, she would not have so much hand 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


7 

in my destruction ; and I should never have it to 
say, that my mother was willing when my father 
was not. 

Though my mother refused to move it to my 
father, yet, as I have heard afterwards, she reported 
all the discourse to him; and that my father, after 
showing a great concern at it, said to her with a 
sigh, “ That boy might be happy if he would stay 
at home ; but if he goes abroad, he will be the most 
miserable wretch that ever was born : I can give no 
consent to it.” 

It was not till almost a year after this that I broke 
loose ; though in the mean time I continued obsti- 
nately deaf to all proposals of settling to business, 
and frequently expostulating with my father and 
mother about their being so positively determined 
against what they knew my inclinations prompted 
me to. But being one day at Hull, whither I went 
casually, and without any purpose of making an 
elopement at that time, and one of my companions 
then going to London by sea in his father’s ship, 
and prompting me to go with them by the common 
allurement of seafaring men, viz. that it should 
cost me nothing for my passage, I consulted neither 
father nor mother any more, nor so much as sent 
them word of it ; but left them to hear of it as they 
might, without asking God’s blessing, or my father’s, 
without any consideration of circumstances or con- 
sequences, and in an ill hour, God knows. 



n the ist September, 1651, I went on board 



V^/a ship bound for London. Never any young 
adventurer’s misfortunes, I believe, began younger, 
or continued longer, than mine. The ship had no 
sooner got out of the Humber, than the wind 
began to blow, and the waves to rise, in a most 
frightful manner ; and as I had never been at sea 
before, I was most inexpressibly sick in body, and 
terrified in mind, I began now seriously to reflect 
upon what I had done, and how justly I was over- 
taken by the judgment of Heaven, for wickedly 
leaving my father’s house. All the good counsels 
of my parents, my father’s tears, and my mother’s 
entreaties, came now fresh into my mind ; and my 
conscience, which was not yet come to the pitch 
of hardness to which it has been since, reproached 
me with the contempt of advice, and the abandon- 
ment of my duty. 

All this while the storm increased, and the sea, 
which I had never been upon before, went very 
high, though nothing like what I have seen many 


ROBINSON CRUSOE* 9 

times since; no, nor what I saw a few days after; 
but, such as it was, enough to affect me then, who 
was but a young sailor, and had never known 
anything of the matter. I expected every wave 
would have swallowed us up, and that every time 
the ship fell down, as I thought, in the trough 
or hollow of the sea, we should never rise more ; 
and in this agony of mind I made many vows 
and resolutions, that if it would please God to 
spare my life this voyage, if ever I got my foot 
once on dry land, I would go directly home to 
my father, and never set it into a ship again while 
I lived ; that I would take his advice, and never 
run myself into such miseries as these any more. 
Now I saw plainly the goodness of his observa- 
tions about the middle, station of life ; how easy, 
how comfortable, he had lived all his days, and 
never had been exposed to tempests at sea or 
troubles on shore; and I resolved that I would, 
like a true repenting prodigal, go home to my 
father. 

These wise and sober thoughts continued during 
the storm, and indeed some time after ; but the 
next day, as the wind was abated, and the sea 
calmer, I began to be a little inured to it. How- 
ever, I was very grave that day, being also a lit- 
tle sea-sick still : but towards night the weather 
cleared up, the wind was quite over, and a charm- 
ing fine evening followed ; the sun went down 
perfectly clear, and rose so the next morning ; and 
having little or no wind, and a smooth sea, the 


IO 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


sun shining upon it, the sight was, as I thought, 
the most delightful that I ever saw. 

I had slept well in the night, and was now no 
more sea-sick, but very cheerful, looking with 
wonder upon the sea that was so rough and terri- 
ble the day before, and could be so calm and 
pleasant in a little time after. 

And now lest my good resolutions should con- 
tinue, my companion, who had indeed enticed me 
away, came to me, and said, “ Well, Bob,” clapping 
me on the shoulder, “ how do you do after it? I 
warrant you you were frightened, wa'n’t you, last 
night, when it blew but a cap-full of wind ? ” — “ A 
cap-full, do you call it?” said I ; “ 't was a terrible 
storm.” — cc A storm, you fool ! ” replies he, “ do 
you call that a storm ? Why, it was nothing at 
all ; give us but a good ship, and sea-room, and 
we think nothing of such a squall of wind as that : 
you are but a fresh-water sailor, Bob ; come, let 
us make a bowl of punch, and we 'll forget all 
that. D’ ye see what charming weather ’t is now ? ” 
To make short this sad part of my story, we went 
the way of all sailors ; the punch was made, and 
I was made drunk with it ; and in that one night's 
wickedness I drowned all my repentance, all my 
reflections upon my past conduct, and all my reso- 
lutions for the future. In a word, as the sea was 
returned to its smoothness of surface and settled 
calmness by the abatement of the storm, so the 
hurry of my thoughts being over, my fears and 
apprehensions of being swallowed up by the sea 


ROBINSON CRUSOE n 

forgotten, and the current of my former desires 
returned, I entirely forgot the vows and promises 
I had made in my distress. I found, indeed, some 
intervals of reflection ; and serious thoughts did, 
as it were, endeavour to return again sometimes ; 
but I shook them off and roused myself from 
them, as it were from a distemper, and, applying 
myself to drink and company, soon mastered the 
return of those fits — for so I called them ; and I 
had in five or six days got as complete a victory 
over conscience as any young sinner, that resolved 
not to be troubled with it, could desire. But I was 
to have another trial for it still; and Providence, 
as in such cases generally it does, resolved to 
leave me entirely without excuse : for if I would 
not take this for a deliverance, the next was to be 
such a one as the worst and most hardened wretch 
among us would confess both the danger and the 
mercy of. The sixth day of our being at sea we 
came into Yarmouth Roads; the wind having been 
contrary and the weather calm, we had made but 
little way since the storm. Here we were obliged 
to come to an anchor, and here we lay, the wind 
continuing contrary, viz. at south-west, for seven 
or eight days, during which time a great many 
ships from Newcastle came into the same roads, as 
the common harbour where the ships might wait 
for a wind for the river Thames. We had not, 
however, rid here so long, but we should have tided 
up the river, but that the wind blew too fresh; 
and, after we had lain four or five days, blew very 


12 


THE ADVENTURES OF 

hard. However, the roads being reckoned as good 
as a harbour, the anchorage good, and our ground 
tackle very strong, our men were unconcerned and 
not in the least apprehensive of danger, but spent 
the time in rest and mirth, after the manner of the 
sea. But the eighth day, in the morning, the wind 
increased, and we had all hands at work to strike 
our topmasts and make everything snug and close, 
that the ship might ride as easy as possible. By 
noon the sea went very high indeed, and our ship 
rode forecastle in, shipped several seas, and we 
thought, once or twice, our anchor had come home ; 
upon which our master ordered out the sheet 
anchor; so that we rode with two anchors ahead, 
and the cables veered out to the better end. 

By this time it blew a terrible storm indeed ; and 
now I began to see terror and amazement in the 
faces of even the seamen themselves. The master 
was vigilant in the business of preserving the ship; 
but, as he went in and out of his cabin by me, I 
could hear him softly say to himself several times, 
“Lord, be merciful to us! we shall be all lost; we 
shall be all undone!” and the like. During these 
first hurries I was stupid, lying still in my cabin, 
which was in the steerage, and cannot describe my 
temper. I could ill reassume the first penitence, 
which I had so apparently trampled upon, and hard- 
ened myself against ; I thought that the bitterness of 
death had been past, and that this would be nothing 
too, like the first: but when the master himself 
came by me, as I said just now, and said we should 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


J 3 

be all lost, I was dreadfully frightened. I got up 
out of my cabin, and looked out; but such a dis- 
mal sight I never saw; the sea went mountains 
high, and broke upon us every three or four min- 
utes. When I could look about, I could see no- 
thing but distress around us ; two ships that rid near 
us, we found had cut their masts by the board, 
being deeply laden; and our men cried out that a 
ship which rid about a mile ahead of us was foun- 
dered. Two more ships, being driven from their 
anchors, were run out of the roads to sea, at all 
adventures, and that with not a mast standing. 
The light ships fared the best, as not so much 
labouring in the sea; but two or three of them 
drove, and came close by us, running away, with 
only their spritsails out, before the wind. Toward 
evening, the mate and boatswain begged the master 
of our ship to let them cut away the foremast, which 
he was very loath to do ; but the boatswain pro- 
testing to him, that if he did not, the ship would 
founder, he consented; and when they had cut 
away the foremast, the mainmast stood so loose, 
and shook the ship so much, they were obliged 
to cut it away also, and make a clear deck. 

Any one may judge what a condition I must be 
in at all this, who was but a young sailor, and who 
had been in such a fright before at but a little. But 
if I can express, at this distance, the thoughts I 
had about me at that time, I was in tenfold more 
horror of mind upon account of my former con- 
victions, and the having returned from them to the 


i 4 THE ADVENTURES OF 

resolutions I had wickedly taken at first, than I was 
at death itself; and these, added to the terror of 
the storm, put me into such a condition, that I can 
by no words describe it; but the worst was not 
come yet; the storm continued with such fury, that 
the seamen themselves acknowledged they had 
never known a worse. We had a good ship, but 
she was deep laden, and so wallowed in the sea, that 
the seamen every now and then cried out she would 
founder. It was my advantage, in one respect, that 
I did not know what they meant by founder , till I 
inquired. However, the storm was so violent that 
I saw what is not often seen, the master, the boat- 
swain, and some others, more sensible than the rest, 
at their prayers, and expecting every moment the 
ship would go to the bottom. In the middle of the 
night, and under all the rest of our distresses, one of 
the men, that had been down on purpose to see, cried 
out, we had sprung a leak; another said there was 
four feet water in the hold. Then all hands were 
called to the pump. At that very word my heart, 
as I thought, died within me, and I fell backwards 
upon the side of my bed, where I sat in the cabin. 
However, the men roused me, and told me that I, 
who was able to do nothing before, was as well 
able to pump as another: at which I stirred up 
and went to the pump, and worked very heartily. 
While this was doing, the master seeing some light 
colliers, who, not able to ride out the storm, were 
obliged to slip and run away to sea, and would not 
come near us, ordered us to fire a gun as a signal 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


of distress. I, who knew nothing what that meant, 
was so surprised, that I thought the ship had 
broke, or some dreadful thing had happened. In 
a word, I was so surprised that I fell down in a 
swoon. As this was a time when everybody had his 
own life to think of, no one minded me, or what 
was become of me: but another man stepped up to 
the pump, and thrusting me aside with his foot, 
let me lie, thinking I had been dead ; and it was a 
great while before I came to myself. 

We worked on; but the water increasing in the 
hold, it was apparent that the ship would founder ; 
and though the storm began to abate a little, yet as 
it was not possible she could swim till we might run 
into a port, so the master continued firing guns for 
help ; and a light ship, who had rid it out just ahead 
of us, ventured a boat out to help us. It was with 
the utmost hazard the boat came near us, but it was 
impossible for us to get on board, or for the boat to 
lie near the ship’s side; till at last the men rowing 
very heartily, and venturing their lives to save ours, 
our men cast them a rope over the stern with a 
buoy to it, and then veered it out a great length, 
which they, after great labour and hazard, took hold 
of, and we hauled them close under our stern, and 
got all into their boat. It was to no purpose for 
them or us, after we were in the boat, to think of 
reaching their own ship ; so all agreed to let her 
drive, and only to pull her in towards shore as much 
as we could : and our master promised them, that 
if the boat was staved upon shore, he would make 


i6 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


it good to their master ; so partly rowing, and partly 
driving, our boat went away to the northward, slop- 
ing towards the shore almost as far as Winterton- 
Ness. 

We were not much more than a quarter of an 
hour out of our ship when we saw her sink ; and 
then I understood, for the first time, what was 
meant by a ship foundering in the sea. I must ac- 
knowledge, I had hardly eyes to look up when the 
seamen told me she was sinking ; for, from that 
moment, they rather put me into the boat, than 
that I might be said to go in. My heart was, as it 
were, dead within me, partly with fright, partly with 
horror of mind, and the thoughts of what was yet 
before me. 

While we were in this condition, the men yet 
labouring at the oar to bring the boat near the shore, 
we could see (when, our boat mounting the waves, 
we were able to see the shore) a great many peo- 
ple running along the strand, to assist us when we 
should come near; but we made slow way towards 
the shore ; nor were we able to reach it, till, being 
past the light-house at Winterton, the shore falls 
off to the westward, towards Cromer, and so the 
land broke off a little the violence of the wind. 
Here we got in, and, though not without much diffi- 
culty, got all safe on shore, and walked afterwards 
on foot to Yarmouth ; where, as unfortunate men, 
we were used with great humanity, as well by the 
magistrates of the town, who assigned us good quar- 
ters, as by the particular merchants and owners of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


17 

ships ; and had money given us sufficient to carry 
us either to London or back to Hull, as we thought 
fit. 

Had I now had the sense to have gone back to 
Hull, and have gone home, I had been happy : 
and my father, an emblem of our blessed Saviour’s 
parable, had even killed the fatted calf for me ; for, 
hearing the ship I went in was cast away in Yar- 
mouth Roads, it was a great while before he had 
any assurance that I was not drowned. 

But my ill fate pushed me on with an obstinacy 
that nothing could resist; and though I had several 
times loud calls from my reason and my more com- 
posed judgment, to go home, yet I had no power 
to do it. — I know not what to call this, nor will 
I urge that it is a secret, overruling decree, that 
hurries us on to be the instruments of our own de- 
struction, even though it be before us, and that we 
rush upon it with our eyes open. Certainly, nothing 
but some such decreed unavoidable misery attend- 
ing, and which it was impossible for me to escape, 
could have pushed me forward against the calm 
reasonings and persuasions of my most retired 
thoughts, and against two such visible instructions 
as I had met with in my first attempt. 

My comrade, who had helped to harden me be- 
fore, and who was the master’s son, was now less 
forward than I : the first time he spoke to me after 
we were at Yarmouth, which was not till two or 
three days, for we were separated in the town to 
several quarters ; I say, the first time he saw me, 


i8 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


it appeared his tone was altered, and, looking very 
melancholy, and shaking his head, he asked me 
how I did ; telling his father who I was, and how 
I had come this voyage only fora trial, in order to 
go farther abroad. His father, turning to me with 
a grave and concerned tone, “ Young man,” says 
he, “you ought never to go to sea any more ; you 
ought to take this for a plain and visible token, 
that you are not to be a seafaring man.” — “Why, 
sir ? ” said I ; “ will you go to sea no more ? ” — 
“ That is another case,” said he ; “ it is my calling, 
and therefore my duty ; but as you made this voy- 
age for a trial, you see what a taste Heaven has 
given you of what you are to expect if you persist. 
Perhaps this has all befallen us on your account, 
like Jonah in the ship of Tarshish.” — “Pray,” con- 
tinues he, “ what are you, and on what account did 
you go to sea?” Upon that I told him some of 
my story; at the end of which he burst out with a 
strange kind of passion. “ What had I done,” said 
he, “that such an unhappy wretch should come 
into my ship ? I would not set my foot in the same 
ship with thee again for a thousand pounds.” This 
indeed was, as I said, an excursion of his spirits, 
which were yet agitated by the sense of his loss, 
and was farther than he could have authority to go. 
— However, he afterwards talked very gravely to 
me ; exhorted me to go back to my father, and not 
tempt Providence to my ruin; told me, I might 
see a visible hand of Heaven against me ; and, 
“ young man,” said he, “ depend upon it, if you do 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


i9 

not go back, wherever you go, you will meet with 
nothing but disasters and disappointments, till your 
father's words are fulfilled upon you.” 

We parted soon after, for I made him little an- 
swer, and I saw him no more ; which way he went, 
I know not : as for me, having some money in my 
pocket, I travelled to London by land ; and there, 
as well as on the road, had many struggles with my- 
self what course of life I should take, and whether 
I should go home or go to sea. As to going home, 
shame opposed the best motions that offered to my 
thoughts ; and it immediately occurred to me how 
I should be laughed at among the neighbours, and 
should be ashamed to see, not my father and mo- 
ther only, but even everybody else. From whence 
I have often since observed how incongruous and 
irrational the common temper of mankind is, es- 
pecially of youth, to that reason which ought to 
guide them in such cases, viz. that they are not 
ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed to repent, not 
ashamed of the action, for which they ought justly 
to be esteemed fools ; but are ashamed of the re- 
turning, which only can make them be esteemed 
wise men. 

In this state of life, however, I remained some 
time, uncertain what measures to take, and what 
course of life to lead. An irresistible reluctance con- 
tinued to going home; and as I stayed awhile, the 
remembrance of the distress I had been in wore off; 
and as that abated, the little motion I had in my 
desires to a return wore off with it, till at last I 


20 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


quite laid aside the thoughts of it, and looked out 
for a voyage. That evil influence which carried me 
first away from my father's house, that hurried me 
into the wild and indigested notion of raising my 
fortune, and that impressed those conceits so forci- 
bly upon me as to make me deaf to all good advice, 
and to the entreaties and even the commands of 
my father ; I say, the same influence, whatever it 
was, presented the most unfortunate of all enter- 
prises to my view ; and I went on board a vessel 
bound to the coast of Africa, or, as our sailors 
vulgarly call it, a voyage to Guinea. 

It was my great misfortune, that in all these ad- 
ventures I did not ship myself as a sailor; whereby, 
though I might indeed have worked a little harder 
than ordinary, yet, at the same time, I had learned 
the duty and office of a foremast-man, and in time 
might have qualified myself for a mate or lieuten- 
ant, if not a master: but as it was always my fate 
to choose for the worse, so I did here; for having 
money in my pocket, and good clothes upon my 
back, I would always go on board in the habit of 
a gentleman; and so I neither had any business in 
the ship, nor learned to do any. It was my lot, 
first of all, to fall into pretty good company in 
London ; which does not always happen to such 
loose and misguided young fellows as I then was: 
the devil, generally, not omitting to lay some snare 
for them very early. But it was not so with me : I 
first fell acquainted with the master of a ship, who 
had been on the coast of Guinea, and who, having 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


21 


had very good success there, was resolved to go 
again. He, taking a fancy to my conversation, which 
was not at all disagreeable at that time, and hearing 
me say I had a mind to see the world, told me 
that, if I would go the voyage with him, I should 
be at no expense ; I should be his messmate and his 
companion ; and if I could carry anything with me, 
I should have all the advantage of it that the trade 
would admit; and perhaps I might meet with some 
encouragement. I embraced the offer, and enter- 
ing into a strict friendship with this captain, who 
was an honest and plain-dealing man, I went the 
voyage with him, and carried a small adventure 
with me ; which, by the disinterested honesty of my 
friend the captain, I increased very considerably ; 
for I carried about forty pounds in such toys and 
trifles as the captain directed me to buy. This forty 
pounds I had mustered together by the assistance 
of some of my relations whom I corresponded 
with ; and who, I believe, got my father, or, at least, 
my mother, to contribute so much as that to my 
first adventure.' This was the only voyage which I 
may say was successful in all my adventures, and 
which I owe to the integrity and honesty of my 
friend the captain; under whom also I got a com- 
petent knowledge of mathematics and the rules of 
navigation, learned how to keep an account of the 
ship’s course, take an observation, and, in short, 
to understand some things that were needful to be 
understood by a sailor; for, as he took delight to 
instruct me, I took delight to learn ; and, in a word. 


22 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


this voyage made me both a sailor and a merchant: 
for I brought home five pounds nine ounces of 
gold dust for my adventure, which yielded me 
in London, at my return, almost three hundred 
pounds, and this filled me with those aspiring 
thoughts which have since so completed my ruin. 
Yet even in this voyage I had my misfortunes too; 
particularly, that I was continually sick, being 
thrown into a violent calenture by the excessive 
heat of the climate; our principal trading being 
upon the coast, from the latitude of fifteen degrees 
north even to the Line itself. 



I was now set up for a Guinea trader ; and my 
friend, to my great misfortune, dying soon 
after his arrival, I resolved to go the same voyage 
again ; and I embarked in the same vessel with 
one who was his mate in the former voyage, and 
had now got the command of the ship. This was 
the unhappiest voyage that ever man made ; for 
though I did not carry quite a hundred pounds of 
my new-gained wealth, so that I had two hundred 
pounds left, and which I lodged with my friend's 
widow, who was very just to me, yet I fell into 
terrible misfortunes in this voyage ; and the first 
was this, viz. — our ship, making her course to- 
wards the Canary Islands, or rather between those 
islands and the African shore, was surprised, in 
the gray of the morning, by a Turkish rover, of 
Sallee, who gave chase to us with all the sail she 
could make. We crowded also as much canvas as 
our yards would spread, or our masts carry, to get 
clear ; but finding the pirate gained upon us, and 
would certainly come up with us in a few hours. 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


24 

we prepared to fight, our ship having twelve guns 
and the rover eighteen. About three in the after- 
noon he came up with us ; and bringing to, by 
mistake, just athwart our quarter, instead of 
athwart our stern, as he intended, we brought 
eight of our guns to bear on that side, and poured 
in a broadside upon him, which made him sheer 
off again, after returning our fire, and pouring in 
also his small shot from near two hundred men 
which he had on board. However, we had not 
a man touched, all our men keeping close. He 
prepared to attack us again, and we to defend 
ourselves ; but laying us on board the next time 
upon our other quarter, he entered sixty men 
upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting 
and hacking the sails and rigging. We plied them 
with small shot, half-pikes, powder-chests, and 
such like, and cleared our deck of them twice. 
However, to cut short this melancholy part of our 
story, our ship being disabled, and three of our 
men killed and eight wounded, we were obliged 
to yield, and were carried all prisoners into Sallee, 
a port belonging to the Moors. 

The usage I had there was not so dreadful as 
at first I apprehended : nor was I carried up the 
country to the emperor’s court, as the rest of our 
men were, but was kept by the captain of the rover 
as his proper prize, and made his slave, being 
young and nimble, and fit for his business. At this 
surprising change of my circumstances, from a 
merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


2 5 

overwhelmed ; and now looked back upon my 
father’s prophetic discourse to me, that I should 
be miserable and have none to relieve me ; which 
I thought was now so effectually brought to pass, 
that it could not be worse ; that now the hand of 
Heaven had overtaken me, and I was undone, 
without redemption. But, alas ! this was but a 
taste of the misery I was to go through, as will 
appear in the sequel of this story. 

As my new patron, or master, had taken me 
home to his house, so I was in hopes he would 
take me with him when he went to sea again, be- 
lieving that it would, some time or other, be his 
fate to be taken by a Spanish or Portuguese man 
of war, and that then I should be set at liberty. 
But this hope of mine was soon taken away, for 
when he went to sea he left me on shore to look 
after his little garden, and do the common drudg- 
ery of slaves about his house ; and when he came 
home again from his cruise, he ordered me to lie 
in the cabin, to look after the ship. 

Here I meditated nothing but my escape, and 
what method I might take to effect it, but found 
no way that had the least probability in it. Nothing 
presented to make the supposition of it rational; 
for I had nobody to communicate it to that would 
embark with me ; no fellow-slave, no English- 
man, Irishman, or Scotchman there but myself; 
so that for two years, though I often pleased my- 
self with the imagination, yet I never had the least 
encouraging prospect of putting it in practice. 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


26 

After about two years, an odd circumstance pre- 
sented itself, which put the old thought of making 
some attempt for my liberty again in my head. 
My patron lying at home longer than usual, with- 
out fitting out his ship, which, as I heard, was for 
want of money, he used constantly, once or twice 
a week, sometimes oftener, if the weather was fair, 
to take the ship’s pinnace and go out into the road 
a fishing ; and as he always took me and a young 
Moresco with him to row the boat, we made him 
very merry, and I proved very dexterous in catch- 
ing fish, insomuch that sometimes hewouldsend me 
with a Moor, one of his kinsmen, and the youth, 
the Moresco, as they called him, to catch a dish of 
fish for him. 

It happened one time, that going a fishing in a 
stark calm morning, a fog rose so thick, that though 
we were not half a league from the shore, we lost 
sight of it; and rowing we knew not whither, or 
which way, we laboured all day and all the next 
night, and when the morning came, we found we 
had pulled off to sea, instead of pulling in for the 
shore, and that we were at least two leagues from 
the shore : however, we got well in again, though 
with a great deal of labour, and some danger, for the 
wind began to blow pretty fresh in the morning ; but 
particularly we were all very hungry. 

But our patron, warned by this disaster, resolved 
to take more care of himself for the future ; and 
having lying by him the longboat of our English 
ship he had taken, he resolved he would not go a 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


27 

fishing any more without a compass and some pro- 
vision ; so he ordered the carpenter of the ship, who 
was an English slave, to build a little state-room 
or cabin in the middle of the longboat, like that of 
a barge, with a place to stand behind it, to steer 
and haul home the main sheet, and room before 
for a hand or two to stand and work the sails. She 
sailed with what we called a shoulder-of-mutton 
sail, and the boom jibbed over the top of the cabin, 
which lay very snug and low, and had in it room 
for him to lie, with a slave or two, and a table to eat 
on, with some small lockers to put in some bottles 
of such liquor as he thought fit to drink, and par- 
ticularly his bread, rice, and coffee. 

\We went frequently out with this boat a fishing, 
and as I was most dexterous to catch fish for him, 
he never went without me. It happened that he had 
appointed to go out in this boat, either for pleasure 
or for fish, with two or three Moors of some dis- 
tinction in that place, and for whom he had pro- 
vided extraordinarily, and had therefore sent on 
board the boat, overnight, a larger store of pro- 
visions than ordinary, and had ordered me to get 
ready three fusees, with powder and shot, which 
were on board his ship, for that they designed some 
sport of fowling as well as fishing. 

I got all things ready as he directed, and waited 
the next morning with the boat washed clean, her 
ensign and pendants out, and everything to accom- 
modate his guests: when, by and by, my patron 
came on board alone, and told me his guests had 


28 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


put off going, upon some business that fell out, 
and ordered me with a man and boy, as usual, to 
go out with the boat and catch them some fish, for 
that his friends were to sup at his house ; and com- 
manded, thatas soon as I had got some fish, I should 
bring it home to his house : all which I prepared 
to do. 

This moment my former notions of deliverance 
darted into my thoughts, for now I found I was 
like to have a little ship at my command; and my 
master being gone, I prepared to furnish myself, 
not for a fishing business, but for a voyage ; though 
I knew not, neither did I so much as consider, 
whither I should steer ; for any where, to get out 
of that place, was my way. 

My first contrivance was to make a pretence to 
speak to this Moor, to get something for our 
subsistence on board; for I told him we must not 
presume to eat of our patron's bread : he said that 
was true ; so he brought a large basket of rusk or 
biscuit, of their kind, and three jars with fresh wa- 
ter, into the boat. I knew where my patron's case 
of bottles stood, which it was evident, by the make, 
were taken out of some English prize, and I con- 
veyed them into the boat while the Moor was on 
shore, as if they had been there before for our 
master. I conveyed also a great lump of bees-wax 
into the boat, which weighed above half a hundred- 
weight, with a parcel of twine or thread, a hatchet, 
a saw, and a hammer, all which were of great use 
to us afterwards, especially the wax, to make can- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


29 

dies. Another trick I tried upon him, which he 
innocently came into also: his name was Ismael, 
whom they called Muley, or Moley : so I called to 
him: “ Moley,” said I, “ our patron’s guns are on 
board the boat ; can you not get a little powder and 
shot ? it may be we may kill some alcamies ” (fowls 
like our curlews) “for ourselves, for I know he 
keeps the gunner’s stores in the ship.” — “Yes,” 
says he, “ I will bring some” ; and accordingly he 
brought a great leather pouch, which held about a 
pound and a half of powder, or rather more, and 
another with shot, that had five or six pounds, with 
some bullets, and put all into the boat : at the same 
time I found some powder of my master’s in the 
great cabin, with which I filled one of the large 
bottles in the case, which was almost empty, pour- 
ing what was in it into another; and thus furnished 
with every thing needful, we sailed out of the port 
to fish. The castle, which is at the entrance of the 
port, knew who we were, and took no notice of 
us ; and we were not above a mile out of the port, 
before we hauled in our sail and set us down to 
fish. The wind blew from NN. E., which was con- 
trary to my desire; for, had it blown southerly, I 
had been sure to have made the coast of Spain, and 
at last reached to the bay of Cadiz ; but my reso- 
lutions were, blow which way it would, I would be 
gone from the horrid place where I was, and leave 
the rest to fate. 

After we had fished some time and catched no- 
thing, for when I had fish on my hook I would 


3 o THE ADVENTURES OF 

not pull them up, that he might not see them, I 
said to the Moor, “ This will not do ; our master 
will not be thus served ; we must stand farther off.” 
He, thinking no harm, agreed ; and being at the 
head of the boat, set the sails ; and as I had the 
helm, I run the boat near a league farther, and then 
brought to, as if I would fish. Then giving the boy 
the helm, I stepped forward to where the Moor 
was, and I took him by surprise, with my arm un- 
der his waist, and tossed him clear overboard into 
the sea. He rose immediately, for he swam like a 
cork, and called to me, begged to be taken in, and 
told me he would go all the world over with me. 
He swam so strong after the boat, that he would 
have reached me very quickly, there being but 
little wind ; upon which I stepped into the cabin, 
and fetching one of the fowling-pieces, I presented 
it at him, and told him, I had done him no hurt, 
and if he would be quiet, I would do him none; 
“ But,” said I, “ you swim well enough to reach 
the shore, and the sea is calm ; make the best of 
your way to shore, and I will do you no harm ; but 
if you come near the boat, I will shoot you through 
the head ; for I am resolved to have my liberty.” 
So he turned himself about, and swam for the 
shore ; and I make no doubt but he reached it 
with ease, for he was an excellent swimmer. 

I could have been content to have taken this 
Moor with me and have drowned the boy, but 
there was no venturing to trust him. When he 
was gone I turned to the boy, whom they called 


\ 





IF YOU COME NEAR THE BOAT I’LL SHOOT YOU 




















































































' 




























































































* 




















































ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3i 

Xury, and said to him, “ Xury, if you will be faith- 
ful to me I will make you a great man ; but if you 
will not stroke your face to be true to me ” (that 
is, swear by Mahomet and his father’s beard), “ I 
must throw you into the sea too.” The boy smiled 
in my face, and spoke so innocently that I could 
not mistrust him ; and swore to be faithful to me, 
and go all over the world with me. 

While I was in view of the Moor that was 
swimming, I stood out directly to sea with the 
boat, rather stretching to windward, that they 
might think me gone towards the Strait’s mouth 
(as indeed any one that had been in their wits 
must have been supposed to do) ; for who would 
have supposed we were sailing on to the south- 
ward, to the truly Barbarian coast, where whole 
nations of negroes were sure to surround us with 
their canoes, and destroy us ; where we could never 
once go on shore but we should be devoured by 
savage beasts, or more merciless savages of human 
kind ? 

But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening, I 
changed my course, and steered directly south and 
by east, bending my course a little towards the 
east, that I might keep in with the shore ; and 
having a fair fresh gale of wind and a smooth 
quiet sea, I made such sail, that I believe by the 
next day, at three o’clock in the afternoon, when 
I made the land, I could not be less than one 
hundred and fifty miles south of Sallee, quite be- 
yond the Emperor of Morocco’s dominions, or 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


32 

indeed of any other king thereabout ; for we saw 
no people. 

\ Yet such was the fright I had taken at the 
Moors, and the dreadful apprehensions I had of 
falling into their hands, that I would not stop, or 
go on shore, or come to an anchor, the wind con- 
tinuing fair, till I had sailed in that manner five 
days ; and then the wind shifting to the southward, 
I concluded also that if any of our vessels were in 
chase of me, they also would now give over : so I 
ventured to make to the coast, and came to an 
anchor in the mouth of a little river ; I knew not 
what or where, neither what latitude, what coun- 
try, what nation, or what river. I neither saw, nor 
desired to see, any people ; the principal thing I 
wanted was fresh water. We came into this creek 
in the evening, resolving to swim on shore as soon 
as it was dark, and discover the country : but as 
soon as it was quite dark, we heard such dreadful 
noises of the barking, roaring, and howling of 
wild creatures, of we knew not what kinds, that 
the poor boy was ready to die with fear, and 
begged of me not to go on shore till day. “ Well, 
Xury,” said I, “then I will not; but it may be, 
we may see men by day, who will be as bad to us 
as those lions.” — “Then we may give them the 
shoot-gun,' ” says Xury, laughing; “make them 
run away.” Such English Xury spoke by con- 
versing among us slaves. However, I was glad to 
see the boy so cheerful, and I gave him a dram 
out of our patron’s case of bottles to cheer him 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


33 

up. After all, Xury’s advice was good, and I took 
it. We dropped our little anchor, and lay still all 
night: I say still, for we slept none ; for in two or 
three hours we saw vast creatures (we knew not 
what to call them), of many sorts, come down to 
the sea-shore, and run into the water, wallowing 
and washing themselves, for the pleasure of cool- 
ing themselves, and they made such hideous howl- 
ings and yellings, that I never indeed heard the 
like. 

Xury was dreadfully frightened, and indeed so 
was I too ; but we were both more frightened 
when we heard one of these mighty creatures 
swimming towards our boat: we could not see 
him, but we might hear him, by his blowing, to 
be a monstrous, huge and furious beast. Xury 
said it was a lion, and it might be so, for aught I 
know ; but poor Xury cried to me to weigh the 
anchor and row away. “ No,” says I, “Xury; we 
can slip our cable with a buoy to it, and go off to 
sea : they cannot follow us far.” I had no sooner 
said so, but I perceived the creature (whatever it 
was) within two oars’ length, which something sur- 
prised me; however, I immediately stepped to the 
cabin door, and taking up my gun, fired at him ; 
upon which he immediately turned about, and 
swam to the shore again. 

But it is impossible to describe the horrible 
noises and hideous cries and howlings that were 
raised, as well upon the edge of the shore as higher 
within the country, upon the noise or report of 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


34 

the gun ; a thing, I believe, those creatures had 
never heard before. This convinced me there was 
no going on shore for us in the night upon that 
coast: and how to venture on shore in the day was 
another question too ; for to have fallen into the 
hands of any of the savages had been as bad as to 
have fallen into the paws of lions and tigers ; at 
least, we were equally apprehensive of the danger 
of it. 

Be that as it would, we were obliged to go on 
shore somewhere or other for water, for we had 
not a pint left in the boat : when and where to 
get it was the point. Xury said, if I would let him 
go on shore with one of the jars, he would find 
if there was any water, and bring some to me. I 
asked him why he would go ; why I should not 
go, and he stay in the boat. The boy answered 
with so much affection, that he made me love him 
ever after. Says he, “ If wild mans come, they 
eat me, you go away.” — “ Well, Xury,” said I, 
“ we will both go; and if the wild mans come, we 
will kill them ; they shall eat neither of us.” So 
I gave Xury a piece of rusk bread to eat, and a 
dram out of our patron's case of bottles, which I 
mentioned before ; and we hauled in the boat as 
near the shore as we thought was proper, and so 
waded to shore, carrying nothing but our arms, 
and two jars for water. 

\ I did not care to go out of sight of the boat, 
fearing the coming of canoes with savages down 
the river ; but the boy, seeing a low place about 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


35 

a mile up the country, rambled to it ; and, by and 
by, I saw him come running towards me. I thought 
he was pursued by some savage, or frightened by 
some wild beast, and I therefore ran forwards to 
help him ; but when I came nearer to him, I saw 
something hanging over his shoulders, which was 
a creature that he had shot, like a hare, but differ- 
ent in colour, and longer legs ; however, we were 
very glad of it, and it was very good meat : but the 
great joy that poor Xury came with, was to tell 
me he had found good water, and seen no wild 
mans. 

\But we found afterwards that we need not take 
such pains for water ; for a little higher up the creek 
where we were, we found the water fresh when the 
tide was out, which flowed but a little way up ; so 
we filled our jars, and having a fire, feasted on the 
hare we had killed ; and prepared to go on our 
way, having seen no footsteps of any human crea- 
ture in that part of the country. 

As I had been one voyage to this coast before, 
I knew very well that the islands of the Canaries, 
and the Cape de Verd Islands also, lay not far from 
the coast. But as I had no instruments to take an 
observation, to find what latitude we were in, and 
did not exactly know, or at least remember, what 
latitude they were in, I knew not where to look 
for them, or when to stand off to sea towards them, 
otherwise I might now have easily found some 
of these islands. But my hope was, that if I stood 
along this coast till I came to the part where the 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


36 

English traded, I should find some of their ves- 
sels upon their usual design of trade, that would 
relieve and take us in. 

(By the best of my calculation, the place where 
I now was must be that country which, lying be- 
tween the Emperor of Morocco’s dominions and 
the Negroes, lies waste, and uninhabited except 
by wild beasts ; the Negroes having abandoned it, 
and gone farther south, for fear of the Moors, and 
the Moors not thinking it worth inhabiting, by 
reason of its barrenness ; and, indeed, both forsak- 
ing it because of the prodigious number of tigers, 
lions, leopards, and other furious creatures which 
harbour there, so that the Moors use it for their 
hunting only, where they go like an army, two or 
three thousand men at a time: and, indeed, for 
near a hundred miles together upon this coast, we 
saw nothing but a waste, uninhabited country by 
day, and heard nothing but howlings and roaring 
of wild beasts by night. 

I Once or twice, in the day-time, I thought I saw 
the Pico of Teneriffe, being the top of the moun- 
tain Teneriffe, in the Canaries, and had a great 
mind to venture out, in hopes of reaching thither; 
but having tried twice, I was forced in again by 
contrary winds ; the sea also going too high for my 
little vessel ; so I resolved to pursue my first de- 
sign, and keep along the shore. 

Several times I was obliged to land for fresh 
water, after we had left this place ; and once, in 
particular, being early in the morning, we came to 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


37 

an anchor under a little point of land which was 
pretty high ; and the tide beginning to flow, we lay 
still, to go farther in. Xury, whose eyes were more 
about him than, it seems, mine were, calls softly to 
me, and tells me, that we had best go farther off 
the shore ; for, says he, “ Look, yonder lies a 
dreadful monster on the side of that hillock, fast 
asleep.” I looked where he pointed, and saw a 
dreadful monster indeed, for it was a terrible great 
lion, that lay on the side of the shore, under the 
shade of a piece of the hill, that hung, as it were, 
over him. “ Xury,” says I, “you shall go on 
shore and kill him.” Xury looked frightened, and 
said, “ Me kill ! he eat me at one mouth ” ; one 
mouthful he meant. However, I said no more to 
the boy, but bade him be still ; and I took our 
biggest gun, which was almost musket-bore, and 
loaded it with a good charge of powder, and with 
two slugs, and laid it down ; then I loaded another 
gun with two bullets : and a third, for we had 
three pieces, I loaded with five smaller bullets. I 
took the best aim I could with the first piece, to 
have shot himin the head ; but he lay so, with his 
leg raised a little above his nose, that the slugs hit 
his leg about the knee, and broke the bone: he 
started up, growling at first, but finding his leg 
broke, fell down again, and then got up upon 
three legs, and gave the most hideous roar that 
ever I heard. I was a little surprised that I had not 
hit 'him on the head; however, I took up the 
second piece immediately, and though he began to 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


38 

move off, fired again, and shot him in the head, 
and had the pleasure to see him drop, and make 
but little noise, but lie struggling for life. Then 
Xury took heart, and would have me let him go 
on shore. “ Well, go,” said I ; so the boy jumped 
into the water, and taking a little gun in one hand, 
swam to shore with the other hand, and coming 
close to the creature, put the muzzle of the piece 
to his ear, and shot him in the head again, which 
despatched him quite. 

This was game, indeed, to us, but it was no food; 
and I was very sorry to lose three charges of pow- 
der and shot upon a creature that was good for 
nothing to us. However, Xury said he would have 
some of him ; so he comes on board, and asked me 
to give him the hatchet: “ For what, Xury ? ” said 
I. — “ Me ctit off his head,” said he. However, 
Xury could not cut off his head ; but he cut off a 
foot, and brought it with him, and it was a mon- 
strous great one. I bethought myself, however, 
that perhaps the skin of him might, one way or 
other, be of some value to us; and I resolved to 
take off his skin, if I could. So Xury and I went 
to work with him : but Xury was much the better 
workman at it, for I knew very ill how to do it. In- 
deed, it took us both up the whole day; but at last 
we got off the hide of him, and spreading it on the 
top of our cabin, the sun effectually dried it in two 
days’ time, and it afterwards served me to lie upon. 

v After this stop we made on to the southward con- 
tinually, for ten or twelve days, living very spar- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


39 

ingly on our provisions, which began to abate very 
much, and going no oftener into the shore than 
we were obliged to for fresh water. My design in 
this, was to make the river Gambia, or Senegal : 
that is to say, anywhere about the Cape de Verd, 
where I was in hopes to meet with some European 
ship ; and if I did not, I knew not what course I 
had to take, but to seek for the islands or perish 
among the Negroes. I knew that all the ships from 
Europe, which sailed either to the coast of Guinea, 
or to Brazil, or to the East Indies, made this Cape, 
or those islands: and in a word I put the whole of 
my fortune upon this single point, either that I 
must meet with some ship or must perish. 
m When I had pursued this resolution about ten 
days longer, as I have said, I began to see that the 
land was inhabited ; and in two or three places, as 
we sailed by, we saw people stand upon the shore 
to look at us : we could also perceive they were 
quite black and stark naked. I was once inclined 
to have gone on shore to them ; but Xury was my 
better counsellor, and said to me, “ No go, no go.” 
However, I hauled in nearer the shore, that I 
might talk to them; and I found they ran along 
the shore by me a good way. I observed they had 
no weapons in their hands, except one, who had a 
long slender stick, which Xury said was a lance, 
and that they would throw them a great way with 
good aim ; so I kept at a distance, but talked to 
them by signs, as well as I could, and particularly 
made signs for something to eat. They beckoned to 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


40 

me to stop my boat, and they would fetch me some 
meat: upon this I lowered the top of my sail, and 
lay by, and two of them ran up into the country; 
and in less than half an hour came back, and 
brought with them two pieces of dry flesh and some 
corn, such as the produce of their country ; but we 
neither knew what the one or the other was; how- 
ever, we were willing to accept it. But how to come 
at it was our next dispute, for I was not for ven- 
turing on shore to them, and they were as much 
afraid of us : but they took a safe way for us all, for 
they brought it to the shore, and laid it down, and 
went and stood a great way off till we fetched it 
on board, and then came close to us again. 

We made signs of thanks to them, for we had 
nothing to make them amends ; but an opportu- 
nity offered that very instant to oblige them won- 
derfully; for while we were lying by the shore, 
came two mighty creatures, one pursuing the other 
(as we took it) with great fury, from the mountains 
towards the sea ; whether it was the male pursu- 
ing the female, or whether they were in sport or in 
rage, we could not tell, any more than we could 
tell whether it was usual or strange ; but I believe 
it was the latter, because, in the first place, those 
ravenous creatures seldom appear but in the night; 
and, in the second place, we found the people ter- 
ribly frightened, especially the women. The man 
that had the lance, or dart, did not fly from them, 
but the rest did; however, as the two creatures ran 
directly into the water, they did not seem to offer 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


4i 


to fall upon any of the Negroes, but plunged them- 
selves into the sea, and swam about, as if they had 
come for their diversion ; at last one of them be- 
gan to come nearer our boat than I at first ex- 
pected; but I lay ready for him, for I had loaded 
my gun with all possible expedition, and bade 
Xury load both the others. As soon as he came 
fairly within my reach, I fired, and shot him di- 
rectly in the head: immediately he sunk down 
into the water, but rose instantly, and plunged up 
and down, as if he was struggling for life, and so 
indeed he was: he immediately made to the shore, 
but between the wound which was his mortal hurt, 
and the strangling of the water, he died just before 
he reached the shore. 

It is impossible to express the astonishment of 
these poor creatures at the noise and fire of my 
gun; some of them were even ready to die for 
fear, and fell down as dead with the very terror; 
but when they saw the creature dead, and sunk in 
the water, and that I made signs to them to come 
to the shore, they took heart and came to the 
shore, and began to search for the creature. I 
found him by his blood staining the water; and 
by the help of a rope, which I slung round him, 
and gave the Negroes to haul, they dragged him 
on shore, and found that it was a most curious 
leopard, spotted, and fine to an admirable degree; 
and the Negroes held up their hands with admi- 
ration, to think what it was I had killed him with. 

\The other creature, frightened with the flash 


42 THE ADVENTURES OF 

of fire and the noise of the gun, swam onshore, and 
ran up directly to the mountains from whence they 
came; nor could I, at that distance, know what it 
was. I found quickly the Negroes were for eating 
the flesh of this creature, so I was willing to have 
them take it as a favour from me; which, when I 
made signs to them that they might take him, they 
were very thankful for. Immediately they fell to 
work with him ; and though they had no knife, 
yet with a sharpened piece of wood they took off 
his skin as readily, and much more readily, than 
we could have done with a knife. They offered me 
some of the flesh, which I declined, making as if 
I would give it them, but made signs for the skin, 
which they gave me very freely, and brought me a 
great deal more of their provisions, which, though 
I did not understand, yet I accepted. I then made 
signs to them for some water, and held out one of 
my jars to them, turning it bottom upwards, to 
show that it was empty, and that I wanted to have 
it filled. They called immediately to some of their 
friends, and there came two women, and brought 
a great vessel made of earth, and burnt, as I sup- 
pose, in the sun ; this they set down to me, as be- 
fore, and I sent Xury on shore with my jars, and 
filled them all three. The women were as stark 
naked as the men. 

I was now furnished with roots and corn, such 
as it was, and water; and leaving my friendly Ne- 
groes, I made forward for about eleven days more, 
without offering to go near the shore, till I saw the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


43 

land run out a great length into the sea, at about 
the distance of four or five leagues before me; and 
the sea being very calm, I kept a large offing, to 
make this point. At length, doubling the point, 
at about two leagues from the land, I saw plainly 
land on the other side, to seaward : then I con- 
cluded, as it was most certain indeed, that this was 
the Cape de Verd, and those the islands, called 
from thence Cape de Verd Islands. However, they 
were at a great distance, and I could not well tell 
what I had best to do ; for if I should be taken 
with a gale of wind, I might neither reach one nor 
the other. 

In this dilemma, as I was very pensive, I stepped 
into the cabin and sat me down, Xury having the 
helm ; when, on a sudden, the boy cried out, 
“ Master, master, a ship with a sail ! ” and the 
foolish boy was frightened out of his wits, think- 
ing it must needs be some of his master’s ships 
sent to pursue us, when I knew we were gotten 
far enough out of their reach. I jumped out of the 
cabin, and immediately saw, not only the ship, but 
what she was, viz. that it was a Portuguese ship, 
and, as I thought, was bound to the Coast of 
Guinea, for Negroes. But, when I observed the 
course she steered, I was soon convinced they were 
bound some other way, and did not design to come 
any nearer to the shore ; upon which, I stretched 
out to sea as much as I could, resolving to speak 
with them if possible. 

With all the sail I could make, I found I should 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


44 

not be able to come in their way, but that they 
would be gone by before I could make any signal to 
them ; but after I had crowded to the utmost, and 
began to despair, they, it seems, saw me, by the 
help of their perspective glasses, and that it was 
some European boat, which, they supposed, must 
belong to some ship that was lost : so they short- 
ened sail, to let me come up. I was encouraged 
with this, and as I had my patron's ensign on 
board, I made a waft of it to them for a signal of 
distress, and fired a gun, both which they saw; for 
they told me they saw the smoke, though they did 
not hear the gun. Upon these signals, they very 
kindly brought to, and lay by for me ; and in 
about three hours’ time I came up with them. 

They asked me what I was, in Portuguese, and 
in Spanish, and in French, but I understood none 
of them ; but, at last, a Scotch sailor who was on 
board, called to me, and I answered him, and told 
him I was an Englishman, that I had made my 
escape out of slavery from the Moors, at Sallee : 
they then bade me come on board, and very kindly 
took me in and all my goods. 

It was an inexpressible joy to me, which any 
one will believe, that I was thus delivered, as I 
esteemed it, from such a miserable, and almost 
hopeless, condition as I was in; and I immediately 
offered all I had to the captain of the ship, as a 
return for my deliverance; but he generously told 
me he would take nothing from me, but that all I 
had should be delivered safe to me when I came to 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


45 

the Brazils. “ For,” says he, “ I have saved your 
life on no other terms than I would be glad to be 
saved myself ; and it may, one time or other, be 
my lot to be taken up in the same condition. Be- 
sides,” said he, “ when I carry^mu to the Brazils, 
so great a way from your own|country, if I should 
take from you what you have, ytmwill be starved 
there, and then I onjr take away that life I had 
given. No, no, SenhorT^fez ” (Mr. Englishman), 
says he, “ I will carry you thither in charity, and 
these things will help to buy your subsistence there, 
and your passage home again.” 



0 



s he was charitable in this proposal, so he was 



A just in the performance, to a tittle: for he 
ordered the seamen, that none should offer to touch 
anything I had: then he took everything into his 
own possession, and gave me back an exact inven- 
tory of them, that I might have them, even so 
much as my three earthen jars. 

As to my boat, it was a very good one; and that 
he saw, and told me he would buy it of me for the 
ship’s use; and ask^^ne what I would have for 
it? I told him, herfiad beenlsf^enerous to me in 
everything, that I to make any price 

of the boat, but left it entirely to him : upon which, 
he told me he would give me a note of hand to pay 
me eighty pieces of eight for it at Brazil ; and when 
it came there, if any one offered to give more, he 
would make it up. He offered me also sixty pieces 
of eight more for my boy Xury, which I was loath 
to take ; not that I was not willing to let the cap- 
tain have him, but I was very loath to sell the poor 
boy’s liberty, who had assisted me so faithfully in 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


47 

procuring my own. However, when I let him know 
my reason, he owned it to be just, and offered me 
this medium, that he would give the boy an obli- 
gation to set him free in ten years if he turned 
Christian; upon this, and Xury saying he was will- 
ing to go to him, I let the captain have him. 

We had a very good voyage to the Brazils, and 
arrived in the Bay de Todos los Santos, or All 
Saints’ Bay, in about twenty-two days after. And 
now I was once more delivered from the most mis- 
erable of all conditions of life; and what to do next 
with myself, I was now to consider. 

The generous treatment the captain gave me, I 
can never enough remember: he would take no- 
thing of me for my passage, gave me twenty ducats 
for the leopard’s skin, and forty for the lion’s skin, 
which I had in my boat, and caused everything I 
had in the ship to be punctually delivered to me; 
and what I was willing to sell, he bought of me; 
such as the case of bottles, two of my guns, and a 
piece of the lump of bees-wax, — for I had made 
candles of the rest; in a word, I made about two 
hundred and twenty pieces of eight of all my cargo; 
and with this stock I went on shore in the Brazils. 

I had not been long here before I was recom- 
mended to the house of a good honest man, like 
himself, who had an ingenio as they call it (that is, 
a plantation and a sugar-house). I lived with him 
some time, and acquainted myself, by that means, 
with the manner of planting and of making sugar; 
and seeing how well the planters lived, and how 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


48 

they got rich suddenly, I resolved, if I could get 
a license to settle there, I would turn planter among 
them: endeavouring, in the meantime, to find out 
some way to get my money, which I had left in 
London, remitted to me. To this purpose, getting 
a kind of letter of naturalization, I purchased as 
much land that was uncured as my money would 
reach, and formed a plan for my plantation and 
settlement; such a one as might be suitable to the 
stock which I proposed to myself to receive from 
England. 

I had a neighbour, a Portuguese of Lisbon, but 
born of English parents, whose name was Wells, 
and in much such circumstances as I was. I call 
him my neighbour, because his plantation lay next 
to mine, and we went on very sociably together. 
My stock was but low, as well as his ; and we rather 
planted for food than anything else, for about two 
years. However, we began to increase, and our land 
began to come into order; so that the third year 
we planted some tobacco, and made each of us a 
large piece of ground ready for planting canes in 
the year to come; but we both wanted help; and 
now I found more than before, I had done wrong 
in parting with my boy Xury. 

\ But, alas! for me to do wrong, that never did 
right, was no great wonder. I had no remedy but 
to go on : I had got into an employment quite re- 
mote to my genius, and directly contrary to the 
life I delighted in, and for which I forsook my 
father’s house and broke through all his good ad- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


49 

vice: nay, I was coming into the very middle sta- 
tion, or upper degree of low life, which my father 
advised me to before; and which, if I resolved to 
go on with, I might as well have staid at home, 
and never have fatigued myself in the world as I 
had done : and I used often to say to myself, I could 
havedonethis as well in England, among my friends, 
r i\ as have gonei five thousand miles off to do it among 
strangers ana savages, in a wilderness, and at such 
a distance as never to hear from any part of the 
world that had the least knowledge of me. 

' In this manner, I used to look upon my con- 
dition with the utmost regret. I had nobody to 
converse with, but now and then this neighbour; 
no work to be done, but by the labour of my 
hands: and I used to say, I lived just like a man 
cast away upon some desolate island, that had no- 
body there but himself. But how just has it been ! 
and how should all men reflect, that when they 
compare their present conditions with others that 
are worse, Heaven may oblige them to make the 
exchange, and be convinced of their former felicity 
by their experience: I say, how just has it been, 
that the truly solitary life I reflected on, in an 
island of mere desolation, should be my lot, who 
had so often unjustly compared it with the life 
which I then led, in which, had I continued, I 
had, in all probability, been exceeding prosperous 
and rich ! 

I was in some degree settled in my measures 
for carrying on the plantation, before my kind 


THE k ADVENTURES OF 


5 ° 

friend, the captain of the ship that took me up at 
sea, went back; for the ship remained there, in 
providing his lading and preparing for his voyage, 
near three months. When telling him what little 
stock I had left behind me in London, he gave 
me this friendly and sincere advice : “ Senhor In- 
glez,” says he (for so he always called me), “if 
you will give me letters, and a procuration here 
in form to me, with orders to the person who has 
your money in London, to send your effects to 
Lisbon, to such persons as I shall direct, and in 
such goods as are proper for this country, I will 
bring you the produce of them, God willing, at 
my return : but since human affairs are all subject 
to changes and disasters, I would have you give 
orders for but one hundred pounds sterling, which, 
you say, is half your stock, and let the hazard be 
run for the first, so that if it come safe, you may 
order the rest the same way ; and if it miscarry, 
you may have the other half to have recourse to 
for your supply.” This was so wholesome advice, 
and looked so friendly, that I could not but be 
convinced it was the best course I could take; so 
I accordingly prepared letters to the gentlewoman 
with whom I left my money, and a procuration to 
the Portuguese captain, as he desired me. 

\ I wrote the English captain's widow a full ac- 
count of all my adventures: my slavery, escape, 
and how I had met with the Portuguese captain 
at sea, the humanity of his behaviour, and what 
condition I was now in, with all other necessary 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


5i 

directions for my supply ; and when this honest 
captain came to Lisbon, he found means, by some 
of the English merchants there, to send over, not 
the order only, but a full account of my story to 
a merchant at London, who represented it effectu- 
ally to her : whereupon she not only delivered the 
money, but, out of her own pocket, sent the 
Portuguese captain a very handsome present for 
his humanity and charity to me. 

\The merchant in London, vesting this hundred 
pounds in English goods, such as the captain had 
wrote for, sent them directly to him at Lisbon, 
and he brought them all safe to me at the Brazils: 
among which, without my direction (for I was too 
young in my business to think of them), he had 
taken care to have all sorts of tools, iron work, 
and utensils, necessary for my plantation, and 
which were of great use to me. When this cargo 
arrived, I thought my fortune made, for I was 
surprised with the joy of it; and my good stew- 
ard, the captain, had laid out the five pounds, 
which my friend had sent him as a present for 
himself, to purchase and bring me over a servant, 
under bond for six years’ service, and would not 
accept of any consideration except a little tobacco, 
which I would have him accept, being of my own 
produce. Neither was this all : but my goods 
being all English manufactures, such as cloths, 
stuffs, baize, and things particularly valuable and 
desirable in the country, I found means to sell 
them to a very great advantage ; so that I might 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


52 

say I had more than four times the value of my 
first cargo, and was now infinitely beyond my 
poor neighbour, I mean in the advancement of 
my plantation : for the first thing I did, I bought 
me a Negro slave, and a European servant also; 
I mean another besides that which the captain 
brought me from Lisbon. 

But as abused prosperity is oftentimes made 
the very means of our adversity, so was it with me. 
I went on the next year with great success in my 
plantation ; I raised fifty great rolls of tobacco on 
my own ground, more than I had disposed of for 
necessaries among my neighbours: and these fifty 
rolls, being each of above one hundred pounds 
weight, were well cured, and laid by against the 
return of the fleet from Lisbon : and now, increas- 
ing in business and in wealth, my head began to 
be full of projects and undertakings beyond 
my reach ; such as are, indeed, often the ruin of 
the best heads in business. Had I continued in 
the station I was now in, I had room for all the 
happy things to have yet befallen me, for which 
my father so earnestly recommended a quiet, 
retired life, and which he had so sensibly de- 
scribed the middle station of life to be full of : 
but other things attended me, and I was still to 
be the wilful agent of all my own miseries ; and, 
particularly, to increase my fault, and double the 
reflections upon myself, which in my future sor- 
rows I should have leisure to make, all these mis- 
carriages were procured by my apparent obstinate 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


53 

adhering to my foolish inclination of wandering 
about, and pursuing that inclination, in contradic- 
tion to the clearest views of doing myself good in 
a fair and plain pursuit of those prospects, and 
those measures of life, which nature and Provi- 
dence concurred to present me with, and to make 
my duty. 

As I had once done thus in breaking away from 
my parents, so I could not be content now, but I 
must go and leave the happy view I had of being 
a rich and thriving man in my new plantation, 
only to pursue a rash and immoderate desire of 
rising faster than the nature of the thing admitted ; 
and thus I cast myself down again into the deep- 
est gulf of human misery that ever man fell into, 
or perhaps could be consistent with life and a 
state of health in the world. 

To come then, by just degrees, to the particu- 
lars of this part of my story. — You may suppose, 
that having now lived almost four years in the 
Brazils, and beginning to thrive and prosper very 
well upon my plantation, I had not only learned 
the language, but had contracted an acquaintance 
and friendship among my fellow-planters, as well 
as among the merchants at St. Salvador, which was 
our port : and that, in my discourses among them, 
I had frequently given them an account of my two 
voyages to the coast of Guinea, the manner of 
trading with the Negroes there, and how easy it 
was to purchase on the coast for trifles — such as 
beads, toys, knives, scissars, hatchets, bits of glass, 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


54 

and the like — not only gold dust, Guinea grains, 
elephants* teeth, etc., but Negroes, for the service 
of the Brazils, in great numbers. 

\ They listened always very attentively to my dis- 
courses on these heads, but especially to that part 
which related to the buying Negroes; which was 
a trade, at that time, not only not far entered into, 
but, as far as it was, had been carried on by the 
assientos , or permission of the kings of Spain and 
Portugal, and engrossed from the public ; so that 
few Negroes were bought, and those excessively 
dear. 

It happened, being in company with some mer- 
chants and planters of my acquaintance, and talk- 
ing of those things very earnestly, three of them 
came to me the next morning, and told me they 
had been musing very much upon what I had 
discoursed with them of the last night, and they 
came to make a secret proposal to me: and, after 
enjoining me to secrecy, they told me that they 
had a mind to fit out a ship to go to Guinea ; that 
they had all plantations as well as I, and were 
straitened for nothing so much as servants ; that 
as it was a trade that could not be carried on, 
because they could not publicly sell the Negroes 
when they came home, so they desired to make 
but one voyage, to bring the Negroes on shore 
privately, and divide them among their own plan- 
tations ; and, in a word, the question was, whether 
I would go their supercargo in the ship, to man- 
age the trading part upon the coast of Guinea; 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


55 

and they offered me that I should have an equal 
share of the Negroes, without providing any part 
of the stock. 

This was a fair proposal, it must be confessed, 
had it been made to any one that had not a set- 
tlement and plantation of his own to look after, 
which was in a fair way of coming to be very con- 
siderable, and with a good stock upon it. But for 
me, that was thus entered and established, and 
had nothing to do but go on as I had begun, for 
three or four years more, and to have sent for the 
other hundred pounds from England ; and who, 
in that time and with that little addition, could 
scarce have failed of being worth three or four 
thousand pounds sterling, and that increasing too; 
for me to think of such a voyage was the most 
preposterous thing that ever man, in such circum- 
stances, could be guilty of. 

I But I, that was born to be my own destroyer, 
could no more resist the offer than I could re- 
strain my first rambling designs, when my father’s 
good counsel was lost upon me. In a word, I told 
them I would go with all my heart, if they would 
undertake to look after my plantation in my ab- 
sence, and would dispose of it to such as I should 
direct, if I miscarried. This they all engaged to 
do, and entered into writings or covenants to do 
so : and I made a formal will, disposing of my plan- 
tation and effects in case of my death ; making 
the captain of the ship that had saved my life, as 
before, my universal heir; but obliging him to 


56 THE ADVENTURES OF 

dispose of my effects as I had directed in my will ; 
one-half of the produce being to himself, and the 
other to be shipped to England. In short, I took 
all possible caution to preserve my effects, and to 
keep up my plantation : had I used half as much 
prudence to have looked into my own interest, and 
have made a judgment of what I ought to have 
done and not to have done, I had certainly never 
gone away from so prosperous an undertaking, 
leaving all the probable views of a thriving cir- 
cumstance, and gone a voyage to sea, attended with 
all its common hazards, to say nothing of the 
reasons I had to expect particular misfortunes to 
myself. 

But I was hurried on, and obeyed blindly the 
dictates of my fancy, rather than my reason : and 
accordingly, the ship being fitted out, and the cargo 
furnished, and all things done as by agreement by 
my partners in the voyage, I went on board in an 
evil hour again, the first of September, 1 659, being 
the same day eight years that I went from my 
parents at Hull, in order to act the rebel to their 
authority, and the fool to my own interest. 

\ Our ship was about one hundred and twenty 
tons burden, carried six guns and fourteen men, 
besides the master, his boy, and myself ; we had 
on board no large cargo of goods, except of such 
toys as were fit for our trade with the Negroes, 
such as beads, bits of glass, shells, and odd trifles, 
especially little looking-glasses, knives, scissars, 
hatchets, and the like. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


57 

The very same day I went on board we set sail, 
standing away to the northward upon our own 
coast, with design to stretch over for the African 
coast. When they came about ten or twelve de- 
grees of northern latitude, which, it seems, was the 
manner of their course in those days, we had very 
good weather, only excessively hot all the way 
upon our own coast, till we came to the height of 
Cape St. Augustino; from whence, keeping farther 
off at sea, we lost sight of land, and steered as if 
we were bound for the isle Fernando de Noronha, 
holding our course N. E. by N. and leaving those 
isles on the east. In this course we passed the 
Line in about twelve days' time, and were, by our 
last observation, in seven degrees twenty-two min- 
utes northern latitude, when a violent tornado, or 
hurricane, took us quite out of our knowledge : 
it began from the south-east, came about to the 
north-west, and then settled in the north-east ; 
from whence it blew in such a terrible manner, 
that for twelve days together we could do nothing 
but drive, and, scudding away before it, let it carry 
us whithersoever fate and the fury of the winds 
directed; and, during these twelve days, I need 
not say that I expected every day to be swallowed 
up; nor, indeed, did any in the ship expect to save 
their lives. 

\ In this distress, we had, besides the terror of the 
storm, one of our men died of the calenture, and 
one man and a boy washed overboard. About the 
twelfth day, the weather abating a little, the master 


58 THE ADVENTURES OF 

made an observation as well as he could, and found 
that he was in about eleven degrees north latitude, 
but that he was twenty-two degrees of longitude 
difference west from Cape St. Augustino; so that 
he found he was got upon the coast of Guiana, or 
the north part of Brazil, beyond the river Ama- 
zons, toward that of the river Oronoco, commonly 
called the Great River; and began to consult with 
me what course he should take, for the ship was 
leaky and very much disabled, and he was for 
going directly back to the coast of Brazil, 

I was positively against that; and looking over 
the charts of the sea-coast of America with him, 
we concluded there was no inhabited country for 
us to have recourse to, till we came within the cir- 
cle of the Carribee islands, and therefore resolved 
to stand away for Barbadoes; which by keeping 
off to sea, to avoid the indraft of the bay or gulf 
of Mexico, we might easily perform, as we hoped, 
in about fifteen days’ sail ; whereas we could not 
possibly make our voyage to the coast of Africa 
without some assistance, both to our ship and our- 
selves. 

With this design, we changed our course, and 
steered away N. W. by W. in order to reach some 
of our English islands, where I hoped for relief: 
but our voyage was otherwise determined ; for being 
in the latitude of twelve degrees eighteen minutes, 
a second storm came upon us, which carried us 
away with the same impetuosity westward, and 
drove us so out of the very way of all human com- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


59 

merce, that had all our lives been saved, as to the 
sea, we were rather in danger of being devoured 
by savages than ever returning to our own coun- 
try. 

In this distress, the wind still blowing very hard, 
one of our men, early in the morning, cried out, 
Land! and we had no sooner run out of the cabin 
to look out, in hopes of seeing whereabouts in the 
world we were, than the ship struck upon a sand, 
and in a moment, her motion being so stopped, 
the sea broke over her in such a manner that we 
expected we should all have perished immedi- 
ately; and we were immediately driven into our 
close quarters, to shelter us from the very foam 
and spray of the sea. 

It is not easy for any one who has not been in 
the like condition to describe or conceive the 
consternation of men in such circumstances : we 
knew nothing where we were, or upon what land 
it was we were driven, whether an island or the 
main, whether inhabited or not inhabited; and as 
the rage of the wind was still great, though rather 
less than at first, we could not so much as hope to 
have the ship hold many minutes without breaking 
in pieces, unless the wind, by a kind of miracle, 
should immediately turn about. In a word, we sat 
looking upon one another, and expecting death 
every moment, and every man acting accordingly, 
as preparing for another world ; for there was little 
or nothing more for us to do in this; that which 
was our present comfort, and all the comfort we 


6 o 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


had, was, that, contrary to our expectation, the ship 
did not break yet, and that the master said the wind 
began to abate. 

\ Now, though we thought that the wind did a 
little abate, yet the ship having thus struck upon the 
sand, and sticking too fast for us to expect her get- 
ting off, we were in a dreadful condition indeed, 
and had nothing to do but to think of saving our 
lives as well as we could. We had a boat at our 
stern just before the storm, but she was first staved 
by dashing against the ship’s rudder, and, in the 
next place, she broke away, and either sunk, or was 
driven off to sea; so there was no hope from her: 
we had another boat on board, but how to get her 
off into the sea was a doubtful thing; however, 
there was no room to debate, for we fancied the 
ship would break in pieces every minute, and some 
told us she was actually broken already. 

^ In this distress, the mate of our vessel laid hold 
of the boat, and with the help of the rest of the 
men, they got her flung over the ship’s side; and 
getting all into her, we let her go, and committed 
ourselves, being eleven in number, to God’s mercy 
and the wild sea: for though the storm was abated 
considerably, yet the sea went dreadfully high upon 
the shore, and might be well called den wild zee , 
as the Dutch call the sea in a storm. 

And now our case was very dismal indeed; for 
we all saw plainly, that the sea went so high that 
the boat could not live, and that we should be 
inevitably drowned. As to making sail, we had 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


6 1 

none ; nor, if we had, could we have done anything 
with it; so we worked at the oar towards the land, 
though with heavy hearts, like men going to exe- 
cution; for we all knew that, when the boat came 
nearer to the shore, she would be dashed in a thou- 
sand pieces by the breach of the sea. However, we 
committed our souls to God in the most earnest 
manner, and the wind driving us towards the shore, 
we hastened our destruction with our own hands, 
pulling as well as we could towards land. 

\ What the shore was — whether rock or sand, 
whether steep or shoal — we knew not; the only 
hope that could rationally give us the least shadow 
of expectation was, if we might happen into some 
bay or gulf, or the mouth of some river, where by 
great chance we might have run our boat in, or got 
under the lee of the land, and perhaps made smooth 
water. But nothing of this appeared ; and as we 
made nearer and nearer the shore, the land looked 
more frightful than the sea. 

After we had rowed, or rather driven, about a 
league and a half, as we reckoned it, a raging wave, 
mountain-like, came rolling astern of us, and plainly 
bade us expect the coup de grace. In a word, it took 
us with such fury, that it overset the boat at once ; 
and separating us, as well from the boat as from one 
another, gave us not time hardly to say, “ O God ! ” 
for we were all swallowed up in a moment. 

Nothing can describe the confusion of thought 
which I felt when I sunk into the water ; for though 
I swam very well, yet I could not deliver myself 


62 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


from the waves so as to draw my breath, till that 
wave having driven me, or rather carried me, a vast 
way on towards the shore, and having spent itself, 
went back, and left me upon the land almost dry, 
but half dead with the water I took in. I had so 
much presence of mind, as well as breath left, that 
seeing myself nearer the main land than I expected, 
I got upon my feet, and endeavoured to make on 
towards the land as fast as I could, before another 
wave should return and take me up again ; but I 
soon found it was impossible to avoid it ; for I saw 
the sea come after me as high as a great hill, and 
as furious as an enemy which I had no means or 
strength to contend with : my business was to hold 
my breath, and raise myself upon the water, if I 
could ; and so, by swimming, to preserve my breath- 
ing, and pilot myself towards the shore, if possible ; 
my greatest concern now being that the wave, as it 
would carry me a great way towards the shore when 
it came on, might not carry me back again with it 
when it gave back towards the sea. 

The wave that came upon me again buried me 
at once twenty or thirty feet deep in its own body ; 
and I could feel myself carried with a mighty force 
and swiftness towards the shore, a very great way ; 
but I held my breath, and assisted myself to swim 
still forward with all my might. I was ready to burst 
withholding my breath, when, as I felt myself rising 
up, so, to my immediate relief, I found my head 
and hands shoot out above the surface of the water; 
and though it was not two seconds of time that I 



ROBINSON CRUSOE STRUGGLING TO REACH THE SHORE . 



. 






























' 




























ROBINSON CRUSOE 63 

could keep myself so, yet it relieved me greatly, 
gave me breath and new courage. I was covered 
again with water a good while, but not so long but 
I held it out; and finding the water had spent itself, 
and began to return, I struck forward against the 
return of the waves, and felt ground again with my 
feet. I stood still a few moments, to recover breath 
and till the water went from me, and then took to 
my heels, and ran with what strength I had farther 
towards the shore. But neither would this deliver 
me from the fury of the sea, which came pouring 
in after me again ; and twice more I was lifted up 
by the waves and carried forwards as before, the 
shore being very flat. 

The last time of these two had well nigh been 
fatal to me ; for the sea, having hurried me along 
as before, landed me, or rather dashed me, against 
a piece of a rock, and that with such force, that it 
left me senseless, and indeed helpless, as to my 
own deliverance ; for the blow, taking my side and 
breast, beat the breath, as it were, quite out of my 
body ; and had it returned again immediately, I 
must have been strangled in the water : but I re- 
covered a little before the return of the waves, and, 
seeing I should again be covered with the water, I 
resolved to hold fast by a piece of the rock, and so 
to hold my breath, if possible, till the wave went 
back. Now, as the waves were not so high as the 
first, being nearer land, I held my hold till the 
wave abated, and then fetched another run, which 
brought me so near the shore, that the next wave, 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


6 4 

though it went over me, yet did not so swallow me 
up as to carry me away ; and the next run I took, 
I got to the main land ; where, to my great com- 
fort, I clambered up the cliffs of the shore, and 
sat me down upon the grass, free from danger, and 
quite out of the reach of the water. 

\ I was now landed, and safe on shore, and began 
to look up and thank God that my life was saved, 
in a case wherein there was, some minutes before, 
scarcely any room to hope. I believe it is impos- 
sible to express, to the life, what the ecstasies and 
transports of the soul are, when it is so saved, as I 
may say, out of the grave : and I did not wonder 
now at the custom, viz., that when a malefactor, 
who has the halter about his neck, is tied up, and 
just going to be turned off, and has a reprieve 
brought to him ; I say, I do not wonder that they 
bring a surgeon with it, to let him blood that very 
moment they tell him of it, that the surprise may 
not drive the animal spirits from the heart, and 
overwhelm him. 

For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first. 

I walked about on the shore, lifting up my hands, 
and my whole being, as I may say, wrapped up 
in the contemplation of my deliverance ; making 
a thousand gestures and motions which I cannot 
describe ; reflecting upon my comrades that were 
drowned, and that there should not be one soul 
saved but myself; for, as for them, I never saw 
them afterwards, or any sign of them, except three 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 65 

of their hats, one cap, and two shoes that were not 
fellows. 

I cast my eyes to the stranded vessel — when the 
breach and froth of the sea being so big I could 
hardly see it, it lay so far off — and considered, 
“ Lord ! how was it possible I could get on shore ? ” 

After I had solaced my mind with the comfort- 
able part of my condition, I began to look around 
me, to see what kind of a place I was in, and what 
was next to be done; and I soon found my com- 
forts abate, and that, in a word, I had a dreadful 
deliverance: for I was wet, had no clothes to shift 
me, nor anything either to eat or drink, to comfort 
me; neither did I see any prospect before me, but 
that of perishing with hunger, or being devoured 
by wild beasts: and that which was particularly 
afflicting to me was, that I had no weapon either to 
hunt and kill any creature for my sustenance, or 
to defend myself against any other creature that 
might desire to kill me for theirs. In a word, I 
had nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco-pipe, 
and a little tobacco in a box. This was all my pro- 
vision ; and this threw me into such terrible agonies 
of mind that, for a while, I ran about like a mad- 
man. Night coming upon me, I began, with a heavy 
heart, to consider what would be my lot if there 
were any ravenous beasts in that country, seeing 
at night they always come abroad for their prey. 

All the remedy that offered to my thoughts, at 
that time, was, to get up into a thick bushy tree, 
like a fir, but thorny — which grew near me, and 


66 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


where I resolved to sit all night — and consider 
the next day what death I should die, for as yet I 
saw no prospect of life. I walked about a furlong 
from the shore, to see if I could find any fresh 
water to drink, which I did, to my great joy ; and 
having drank, and put a little tobacco into my 
mouth to prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and 
getting up into it, endeavoured to place myself so 
as that, if I should fall asleep, I might not fall ; 
and having cut me a short stick, like a truncheon, 
for my defence, I took up my lodging ; and hav- 
ing been excessively fatigued, I fell fast asleep, and 
slept as comfortably as, I believe, few could have 
done in my condition ; and found myself the most 
refreshed with it that I think I ever was on such 


an occasion. 



W hen I waked it was broad day, the weather 
clear, and the storm abated, so that the sea 
did not rage and swell as before ; but that which 
surprised me most was, that the ship was lifted off 
in the night from the sand where she lay, by the 
swelling of the tide, and was driven up almost as 
far as the rock which I at first mentioned, where 
I had been so bruised by the wave dashing me 
against it. This being within about a mile from 
the shore where I was, and the ship seeming to 
stand upright still, I wished myself on board, that 
at least I might save some necessary things for 
my use. 

When I came down from my apartment in the 
tree, I looked about me again, and the first thing 
I found was the boat, which lay, as the wind and 
the sea had tossed her up, upon the land, about 
two miles on my right hand. I walked as far as I 
could upon the shore to have got to her; but 
found a neck, or inlet, of water, between me and 
the boat, which was about half a mile broad ; so I 


68 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


came back for the present, being more intent upon 
getting at the ship, where I hoped to find some- 
thing for my present subsistence. 

^ A little after noon, I found the sea very calm, 
and the tide ebbed so far out, that I could come 
within a quarter of a mile of the ship : and here 
I found a fresh renewing of my grief ; for I saw 
evidently, that if we had kept on board, we had 
been all safe ; that is to say, we had all got safe 
on shore, and I had not been so miserable as to be 
left entirely destitute of all comfort and company, 
as I now was. This forced tears from my eyes 
again; but as there was little relief in that, I re- 
solved, if possible, to get to the ship : so I pulled 
off my clothes, for the weather was hot to extrem- 
ity, and took the water ; but when I came to the 
ship, my difficulty was still greater to know how 
to get on board ; for as she lay aground, and high 
out of the water, there was nothing within my 
reach to lay hold of. I swam round her twice, and 
the second time I spied a small piece of rope, which 
I wondered I did not see at first, hang down by 
the fore-chains so low, as that with great difficulty 
I got hold of it, and by the help of that rope got 
into the forecastle of the ship. Here I found that 
the ship was bulged, and had a great deal of water 
in her hold ; but that she lay so on the side of a 
bank of hard sand, or rather earth, that her stern 
lay lifted up upon the bank, and her head low, 
almost to the water. By this means all her quarter 
was free, and all that was in that part was dry ; for 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 69 

you may be sure my first work was to search' and 
to see what was spoiled and what was free : and, 
first, I found that all the ship’s provisions were 
dry and untouched by the water; and, being very 
well disposed to eat, I went to the bread-room 
and filled my pockets with biscuit, and ate it as I 
went about other things, for I had no time to lose. 
I also found some rum in the great cabin, of which 
I took a large dram, and which I had indeed need 
enough of, to spirit me for what was before me. 
Now I wanted nothing but a boat, to furnish my- 
self with many things which I foresaw would be 
very necessary to me. 

It was in vain to sit still and wish for what was 
not to be had, and this extremity roused my ap- 
plication. We had several spare yards, and two or 
three large spars of wood, and a spare topmast or 
two in the ship; I resolved to fall to work with 
these, and flung as many overboard as I could 
manage for their weight, tying every one with a 
rope, that they might not drive away. When this 
was done, I went down the ship’s side, and pulling 
them to me, I tied four of them fast together at 
both ends, as well as I could, in the form of a 
raft, and laying two or three short pieces of plank 
upon them, crossways, I found I could walk upon 
it very well, but that it was not able to bear any 
great weight, the pieces being too light: so I went 
to work, and with the carpenter’s saw I cut a spare 
topmast into three lengths, and added them to my 
raft, with a great deal of labour and pains. But the 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


70 

hope of furnishing myself with necessaries encour- 
aged me to go beyond what I should have been 
able to have done upon another occasion. 

My raft was now strong enough to bear any rea- 
sonable weight. My next care was what to load it 
with, and how to preserve what I laid upon it from 
the surf of the sea; but I was not long considering 
this. I first laid all the planks or boards upon it 
that I could get, and having considered well what 
I most wanted, I got three of the seamen’s chests, 
which I had broken open and emptied, and low- 
ered them down upon my raft; these I filled with 
provisions, viz. bread, rice, three Dutch cheeses, 
five pieces of dried goats’ flesh (which we lived 
much upon), and a little remainder of European 
corn, which had been laid by for some fowls which 
we had brought to sea with us, but the fowls were 
killed. There had been some barley and wheat to- 
gether, but, to my great disappointment, I found 
afterwards that the rats had eaten or spoiled it all. 
As for liquors, I found several cases of bottles be- 
longing to our skipper, in which were some cordial 
waters ; and, in all, about five or six gallons of rack. 
These I stowed by themselves, there being no need 
to put them into the chests, nor any room for them. 
While I was doing this, I found the tide began to 
flow, though very calm; and I had the mortifica- 
tion to see my coat, shirt, and waistcoat, which I 
had left on shore upon the sand, swim away; as for 
my breeches, which were only linen, and open- 
kneed, I swam on board in them, and my stock- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


7i 

ings. However, this put me upon rummaging for 
clothes, of which I found enough, but took no 
more than I wanted for present use, for I had 
other things which my eye was more upon ; as, 
first, tools to work with on shore ; and it was after 
long searching that I found the carpenter’s chest, 
which was indeed a very useful prize to me, and 
much more valuable than a ship-lading of gold 
would have been at that time. I got it down to 
my raft, even whole as it was, without losing time 
to look into it, for I knew in general what it con- 
tained. 

' My next care was for some ammunition and 
arms. There were two very good fowling-pieces in 
the great cabin, and two pistols; these I secured 
first, with some powder-horns and a small bag of 
shot, and two old rusty swords. I knew there were 
three barrels of powder in the ship, but knew not 
where our gunner had stowed them ; but with much 
search I found them, two of them dry and good, 
the third had taken water. Those two I got to my 
raft, with the arms* And now I thought myself 
pretty well freighted, and began to think how I 
should get to shore with them, having neither sail, 
oar, nor rudder ; and the least capful of wind would 
have overset all my navigation. 

I had three encouragements : 1 st, a smooth, calm 
sea ; 2dly, the tide rising, and setting in to the 
shore; 3dly, what little wind there was blew me 
towards the land. And thus, having found two or 
three broken oars belonging to the boat, and be- 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


72 

sides the tools which were in the chest, I found 
two saws, an axe, and a hammer; and with this 
cargo I put to sea. For a mile, or thereabouts, my 
raft went very well, only that I found it drive a 
little distant from the place where I had landed 
before ; by which I perceived that there was some 
indraft of the water, and consequently I hoped to 
find some creek or river there, which I might make 
use of as a port to get to land with my cargo. 

As I imagined, so it was : there appeared before 
me a little opening of the land, and I found a strong 
current of the tide set into it ; so I guided my raft, 
as well as I could, to get into the middle of the 
stream. But here I had like to have suffered a sec- 
ond shipwreck, which, if I had, I think it verily 
would have broken my heart; for, knowing nothing 
of the coast, my raft ran aground at one end of it 
upon a shoal, and, not being aground at the other 
end, it wanted but a little that all my cargo had 
slipped off towards that end that was afloat, and so 
fallen into the water. I did my utmost, by setting 
my back against the chests, to keep them in their 
places, but could not thrust off the raft with all my 
strength ; neither durst I stir from the posture I 
was in, but holding up the chests with all my might, 
1 stood in that manner near half an hour, in which 
time the rising of the water brought me a little 
more upon a level; and a little after, the water still 
rising, my raft floated again, and I thrust her off 
with the oar I had into the channel, and then driv- 
ing up higher, I at length found myself in the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


73 

mouth of a little river, with land on both sides, and 
a strong current or tide running up. I looked on 
both sides for a proper place to get to shore, for I 
was not willing to be driven too high up the river, 
hoping, in time, to see some ship at sea, and there- 
fore resolved to place myself as near the coast as 
I could. 

At length I spied a little cove on the right shore 
of the creek, to which, with great pain and diffi- 
culty I guided my raft, and at last got so near, as 
that, reaching ground with my oar, I could thrust 
her directly in ; but here I had like to have dipped 
all my cargo into the sea again ; for that shore lying 
pretty steep, that is to say, sloping, there was no 
place to land, but where one end of my float, if it 
ran on shore, would lie so high, and the other sink 
lower, as before, that it would endanger my cargo 
again. All that I could do was to wait till the tide 
was at the highest, keeping the raft with my oar 
like an anchor, to hold the side of it fast to the 
shore, near a flat piece of ground, which I expected 
the water would flow over; and so it did. As soon 
as I found water enough, for my raft drew about 
a foot of water, I thrust her upon that flat piece 
of ground, and there fastened or moored her, by 
sticking my two broken oars into the ground one 
on one side, near one end, and one on the other 
side, near the other end : and thus I lay till the 
water ebbed away and left my raft and all my cargo 
safe on shore. 

\ My next work was to view the country, and seek 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


74 

a proper place for my habitation, and where to stow 
my goods, to secure them from whatever might 
happen. Where I was I yet knew not; whether on 
the continent or on an island ; whether inhabited 
or not inhabited; whether in danger of wild beasts 
or not. There was a hill not above a mile from me, 
which rose up very steep and high, and which 
seemed to overtop some other hills, which lay as 
in a ridge from it, northward. I took out one of 
the fowling-pieces and one of the pistols and a horn 
of powder; and thus armed, I travelled for discov- 
ery up to the top of that hill; where, after I had, 
with great labour and difficulty, got up to the top, 
I saw my fate, to my great affliction, viz. that I was 
in an island, environed every way with the sea, no 
land to be seen, except some rocks, which lay a 
great way off, and two small islands, less than this, 
which lay about three leagues to the west. 

I found also that the island I was in was barren, 
and, as I saw good reason to believe, uninhabited, 
except by wild beasts, of whom, however, I saw 
none ; yet I saw abundance of fowls, but knew not 
their kinds ; neither, when I killed them, could I 
tell what was fit for food, and what not. At my 
coming back, I shot at a great bird, which I saw 
sitting upon a tree, on the side of a great wood. I 
believe it was the first gun that had been fired 
there since the creation of the world : I had no 
sooner fired, but from all the parts of the wood 
there arose an innumerable number of fowls, of 
many sorts, making a confused screaming and cry- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


75 

ing, every one according to his usual note ; but not 
one of them of any kind that I knew. As for the 
creature I killed, I took it to be a kind of a hawk, 
its colour and beak resembling it, but it had no 
talons or claws more than common. Its flesh was 
carrion and fit for nothing. 

Contented with this discovery, I came back to 
my raft, and fell to work to bring my cargo on 
shore, which took me up the rest of that day : what 
to do with myself at night I knew not, nor indeed 
where to rest: for I was afraid to lie down on the 
ground, not knowing but some wild beast might 
devour me ; though, as I afterwards found, there 
was really no need for those fears. However, as 
well as I could, I barricadoed myself round with 
the chests and boards that I had brought on shore, 
and made a kind of hut for that night’s lodging. 
As for food, I yet saw not which way to supply 
myself, except that I had seen two or three crea- 
tures, like hares, run out of the wood where I shot 
the fowl. 

I now began to consider that I might yet get a 
great many things out of the ship which would be 
useful to me, and particularly some of the rigging 
and sails, and such other things as might come to 
land ; and I resolved to make another voyage on 
board the vessel, if possible. And as I knew that 
the first storm that blew must necessarily break her 
all in pieces, I resolved to set all other things apart 
till I got everything out of the ship that I could 
get. Then I called a council, that is to say, in my 


7 6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

thoughts, whether I should take back the raft ; but 
this appeared impracticable: so I resolved to go as 
before, when the tide was down ; and I did so, only 
that I stripped before I went from my hut ; having 
nothing on but a chequered shirt, a pair of linen 
drawers, and a pair of pumps on my feet. 

I got on board the ship as before, and prepared 
a second raft ; and having had experience of the 
first, I neither made this so unwieldy, nor loaded it 
so hard, but yet I brought away several things very 
useful to me ; as, first, in the carpenter’s stores, 
I found two or three bags of nails and spikes, a 
great screw-jack, a dozen or two of hatchets; and, 
above all, that most useful thing called a grind- 
stone. All these I secured together, with several 
things belonging to the gunner ; particularly, two 
or three iron crows, and two barrels of musket 
bullets, seven muskets, and another fowling-piece, 
with some small quantity of powder more, a large 
bag full of small shot, and a great roll of sheet 
lead; but this last was so heavy, I could not hoist 
it up to get it over the ship’s side. Besides these 
things, I took all the men’s clothes that I could 
find, and a spare fore-topsail, a hammock, and some 
bedding ; and with this I loaded my second raft, 
and brought them all safe on shore, to my very 
great comfort. 

I was under some apprehensions lest, during my 
absence from the land, my provisions might be de- 
voured on shore : but when I came back, I found 
no sign of any visitor ; only there sat a creature 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


77 

like a wild cat upon one of the chests, which, when 
I came towards it, ran away a little distance, and 
then stood still. She sat very composed and un- 
concerned, and looked full in my face, as if she 
had a mind to be acquainted with me. I presented 
my gun to her, but, as she did not understand it, 
she was perfectly unconcerned at it, nor did she 
offer to stir away ; upon which I tossed her a bit 
of biscuit, though, by the way, I was not very free 
of it, for my store was not great; however, I spared 
her a bit, I say, and she went to it, smelled of it, 
and ate it, and looked (as pleased) for more ; but 
I thanked her, and could spare no more : so she 
marched off. 

Having got my second cargo on shore — though 
I was fain to open the barrels of powder, and bring 
them by parcels, for they were too heavy, being 
large casks — I went to work to make me a little 
tent, with the sail, and some poles, which I cut for 
that purpose ; and into this tent I brought every- 
thing that I knew would spoil either with rain or 
sun; and I piled all the empty chests and casks up 
in a circle round the tent, to fortify it from any 
sudden attempt either from man or beast. 

When I had done this, I blocked up the door 
of the tent with some boards within, and an empty 
chest set up on end without; and spreading one of 
the beds upon the ground, laying my two pistols 
just at my head, and my gun at length by me, I 
went to bed for the first time, and slept very quietly 
all night, for I was very weary and heavy ; for the 


78 THE ADVENTURES OF 

night before I had slept little, and had laboured 
very hard all day, as well to fetch all those things 
from the ship, as to get them on shore. 

I had the biggest magazine of all kinds now that 
ever was laid up, I believe, for one man : but I was 
not satisfied still ; for while the ship sat upright in 
that posture, I thought I ought to get everything 
out of her that I could ; so every day, at low water, 
I went on board, and brought away something or 
other : but particularly the third time I went, I 
brought away as much of the rigging as I could, 
as also all the small ropes and rope-twine I could 
get, with a piece of spare canvas, which was to 
mend the sails upon occasion, and the barrel of 
wet gunpowder. In a word, I brought away all the 
sails first and last ; only that I was fain to cut them 
in pieces, and bring as much at a time as I could ; 
for they were no more useful to be sails, but as mere 
canvas only. 

But that which comforted me still more was, 
that, last of all, after I had made five or six such 
voyages as these, and thought I had nothing more 
to expect from the ship that was worth my med- 
dling with ; I say, after all this, I found a great 
hogshead of bread, and three large runlets of rum 
or spirits, and a box of sugar, and a barrel of fine 
flour; this was surprising to me, because I had 
given over expecting any more provisions, except 
what was spoiled by the water. I soon emptied 
the hogshead of that bread, and wrapped it up, 
parcel by parcel, in pieces of the sails, which I cut 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


79 

out ; and, in a word, I got all this safe on shore 
also. 

The next day I made another voyage, and now, 
having plundered the ship of what was portable and 
fit to hand out, I began with the cables, and cutting 
the great cable into pieces such as I could move, 
I got two cables and a hawser on shore, with all 
the ironwork I could get ; and having cut down 
the spritsail-yard, and the mizen-yard, and every- 
thing I could, to make a large raft, I loaded it 
with all those heavy goods, and came away ; but 
my good luck began now to leave me ; for this raft 
was so unwieldy, and so overladen, that after I was 
entered the little cove, where I had landed the 
rest of my goods, not being able to guide it so 
handily as I did the other, it overset, and threw 
me and all my cargo into the water ; as for myself, 
it was no great harm, for I was near the shore ; but 
as to my cargo, it was a great part of it lost, es- 
pecially the iron, which I expected would have 
been of great use to me : however, when the tide 
was out, I got most of the pieces of cable ashore, 
and some of the iron, though with infinite labour; 
for I was fain to dip for it into the water, a work 
which fatigued me very much. After this I went 
every day* on board, and brought away what I 
could get. 

V I had been now thirteen days ashore, and had 
been eleven times on board the ship; in which time 
I had brought away all that one pair of hands could 
well be supposed capable to bring; though I believe 


8o 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


verily, had the calm weather held, I should have 
brought away the whole ship, piece by piece ; but 
preparing, the twelfth time, to go on board, I found 
the wind began to rise. However, at low water, I 
went on board ; and though I thought I had rum- 
maged the cabin so effectually as that nothing could 
be found, yet I discovered a locker with drawers in 
it, in one of which I found two or three razors, and 
one pair of large scissars, with some ten or a dozen 
of good knives and forks; in another I found about 
thirty-six pounds in money, some European coin, 
some Brazil, some pieces of eight, some gold, and 
some silver. 

I smiled to myself at the sight of this money; 
“ O drug ! ” I exclaimed, cc what art thou good for? 
Thou art not worth to me, no, not the taking off 
the ground ; one of those knives is worth all this 
heap : I have no manner of use for thee ; e’en 
remain where thou art, and go to the bottom, as 
a creature whose life is not worth saving.” How- 
ever, upon second thoughts, I took it away ; and 
wrapping all this in a piece of canvas, I began to 
think of making another raft; but while I waspre- 
paring this, I found the sky overcast, and the wind 
began to rise, and in a quarter of an hour it blew 
a fresh gale from the shore. It presently occurred 
to me, that it was in vain to pretend to make a 
raft with the wind off shore ; and that it was my 
business to be gone before the tide of flood began, 
or otherwise I might not be able to reach the 
shore at all. Accordingly I let myself down into 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


the water, and swam across the channel which lay 
between the ship and the sands, and even that 
with difficulty enough, partly with the weight of 
the things I had about me, and partly the rough- 
ness of the water ; for the wind rose very hastily, 
and before it was quite high water it blew a storm. 

But I was got home to my little tent, where I 
lay, with all my wealth about me very secure. It 
blew very hard all that night, and in the morning, 
when I looked out, behold no more ship was to be 
seen ! I was a little surprised, but recovered myself 
with this satisfactory reflection, viz. that I had lost 
no time, nor abated no diligence, to get every- 
thing out of her that could be useful to me, and 
that, indeed, there was little left in her that I was 
able to bring away, if I had had more time. 

I now gave over any more thoughts of the ship, 
or of anything out of her, except what might drive 
on shore from her wreck ; as, indeed, divers pieces 
of her afterwards did ; but those things were of 
small use to me. 

My thoughts were now wholly employed about 
securing myself against either savages, if any should 
appear, or wild beasts, if any were in the island ; 
and I had many thoughts of the method how to 
do this, and what kind of dwelling to make, whether 
I should make a cave in the earth, or a tent upon 
the earth ; and, in short, I resolved upon both ; 
the manner and description of which, it may not 
be improper to give an account of. 

I soon found the place I was in was not for my 


82 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


settlement, particularly because it was upon a low, 
moorish ground, near the sea, and I believed it 
would not be wholesome ; and more particularly 
because there was no fresh water near it ; so I re- 
solved to find a more healthy and more convenient 
spot of ground. 

I consulted several things in my situation, which 
I found would be proper for me : first, air and fresh 
water, I just now mentioned ; secondly, shelter from 
the heat of the sun ; thirdly, security from raven- 
ous creatures, whether men or beasts ; fourthly, a 
view to the sea, that if God sent any ship in sight, 
I might not lose any advantage for my deliver- 
ance, of which 1 was not willing to banish all my 
expectation yet. 

In search for a place proper for this, I found a 
little plain on the side of a rising hill, whose front 
towards this little plain was steep as a house-side, 
so that nothing could come down upon me from 
the top. On the side of this rock, there was a hol- 
low place, worn a little way in, like the entrance or 
door of a cave ; but there was not really any cave, 
or way into the rock, at all. 

On the flat of the green, just before this hollow 
place, I resolved to pitch my tent. This plain was 
not above a hundred yards broad, and about twice 
as long, and lay like a green before my door; and, 
at the end of it, descended irregularly every way 
down into the low ground by the seaside. It was 
on the N. N. W. side of the hill ; so that it was 
sheltered from the heat every day, till it came to 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 83 

aW. and by S. sun, or thereabouts, which in those 
countries is near the setting. 

Before I set up my tent, I drew a half-circle before 
the hollow place, which took in about ten yards in 
its semi-diameter from the rock, and twenty yards 
in its diameter, from its beginning and ending. 

In this half-circle I pitched two rows of strong 
stakes, driving them into the ground till they 
stood very firm like piles, the biggest end being 
out of the ground about five feet and a half, and 
sharpened on the top. The two rows did not stand 
above six inches from one another. 

Then I took the pieces of cable which I cut in 
the ship, and laid them in rows, one upon another, 
within the circle, between these two rows of stakes, 
up to the top, placing other stakes in the inside, 
leaning against them, about two feet and a half 
high, like a spur to a post ; and this fence was so 
strong, that neither man nor beast could get into 
it or over it. This cost me a great deal of time and 
labour, especially to cut the piles in the woods, bring 
them to the place, and drive them into the earth. 

The entrance into this place I made to be not by 
a door, but by a short ladder to go over the top; 
which ladder, when I was in, I lifted over after me ; 
and so I was completely fenced in and fortified, as 
I thought, from all the world, and consequently 
slept secure in the night, which otherwise I could 
not have done ; though, as it appeared afterwards, 
there was no need of all this caution against the 
enemies that I apprehended danger from. 



I nto this fence or fortress, with infinite labour, I 
carried all my riches, all my provisions, am- 
munition, and stores, of which you have the ac- 
count above; and I made a large tent, which, to 
preserve me from the rains, that in one part of the 
year are very violent there, I made double, viz. one 
smaller tent within, and one larger tent above it, 
and covered the uppermost with a large tarpaulin, 
which I had saved among the sails. 

And now I lay no more for a while in the bed 
which I had brought on shore, but in a hammock, 
which was indeed a very good one, and belonged 
to the mate of the ship. 

Into this tent I brought all my provisions and 
everything that would spoil by the wet; and having 
thus enclosed all my goods I made up the entrance, 
which till now I had left open, and so passed and 
repassed as I said, by a short ladder. 

When I had done this, I began to work my way 
into the rock, and bringing all the earth and stones 
that I dug down out through my tent, I laid them 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 85 

up within my fence in the nature of a terrace, so 
that it raised the ground within about a foot and 
a half; and thus I made me a cave, just behind my 
tent, which served me like a cellar to my house. 
It cost me much labour and many days, before all 
these things were brought to perfection ; and there- 
fore I must go back to some other things which 
took up some of my thoughts. At the same time 
it happened, after I had laid my scheme for the set- 
ting up my tent, and making the cave, that a storm 
of rain falling from a thick, dark cloud, a sudden 
flash of lightning happened, and after that, a great 
clap of thunder, as is naturally the effect of it. I 
was not so much surprised with the lightning as I 
was with a thought which darted into my mind as 
swift as the lightning itself : “ O my powder ! ” My 
very heart sunk within me when I thought that at 
one blast all my powder might be destroyed; on 
which, not my defence only, but the providing me 
food, as I thought, entirely depended. I was no- 
thing near so anxious about my own danger, though, 
had the powder taken fire, I should never have 
known who had hurt me. 

Such impression did this make upon me, that 
after the storm was over, I laid aside all my works, 
my building and fortifying, and applied myself to 
make bags and boxes, to separate the powder, and 
to keep it a little and a little in a parcel, in hope, 
that whatever might come, it might not all take 
fire at once; and to keep it so apart, that it should 
not be possible to make one part fire another. I fin- 


86 THE ADVENTURES OF 

ished this work in about a fortnight; and I think 
my powder, which in all was about two hundred 
and forty pounds weight was divided into not less 
than a hundred parcels. As to the barrel that had 
been wet, I did not apprehend any danger from 
that; so I placed it in my new cave, which, in my 
fancy, I called my kitchen, and the rest I hid up 
and down in holes among the rocks, so that no wet 
might come to it, marking very carefully where I 
laid it. 

In the interval of time while this was doing, I 
went out at least once every day with my gun, as 
well to divert myself, as to see if I could kill any- 
thing fit for food; and, as near as I could, to ac- 
quaint myself with what the island produced. The 
first time I went out, I presently discovered that 
there were goats upon the island, which was a great 
satisfaction to me; but then it was attended with 
this misfortune to me, viz. that they were so shy, 
so subtle, and so swift of foot, that it was the most 
difficult thing in the world to come at them ; but 
I was not discouraged at this, not doubting but I 
might now and then shoot one, as it soon hap- 
pened; for after I had found their haunts a little, 
I laid wait in this manner for them : I observed, if 
they saw me in the valleys, though they were upon 
the rocks, they would run away as in a terrible 
fright; but if they were feeding in the valleys, and 
I was upon the rocks, they took no notice of me; 
from whence I concluded, that by the position of 
their optics, their sight was so directed downward, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 87 

that they did not readily see objects that were 
above them: so afterwards I took this method — 
I always climbed the rocks first, to get above them, 
and then had frequently a fair mark. The first shot 
I made among these creatures, I killed a she-goat, 
which had a little kid by her, which she gave suck 
to, which grieved me heartily; but when the old 
one fell, the kid stood stock still by her, till I came 
and took her up; and not only so, but when I car- 
ried the old one with me, upon my shoulders, the 
kid followed me quite to my enclosure; upon 
which I laid down the dam, and took the kid in 
my arms, and carried it over my pale, in hopes to 
have bred it up tame: but it would not eat; so 
I was forced to kill it, and eat it myself. These two 
supplied me with flesh a great while, for I ate spar- 
ingly, and preserved my provisions (my bread espe- 
cially) as much as possibly I could. 

Having now fixed my habitation, I found it ab- 
solutely necessary to provide a place to make a 
fire in, and fuel to burn ; and what I did for that, 
as also how I enlarged my cave and what conven- 
iences I made, I shall give a full account of it in 
its proper place ; but I must first give some little 
account of myself, and of my thoughts about liv- 
ing, which, it may well be supposed, were not a 
few. 

I had a dismal prospect of my condition ; for as 
I was not cast away upon that island without being 
driven, as is said, by a violent storm quite out of 
the course of our intended voyage, and a great way, 


88 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


viz. some hundreds of leagues, out of the ordinary 
course of the trade of mankind, I had great reason 
to consider it as a determination of Heaven, that 
in this desolate place, and in this desolate manner, 
I should end my life. The tears would run plenti- 
fully down my face when I made these reflections ; 
and sometimes I would expostulate with myself 
why Providence should thus completely ruin its 
creatures, and render them so absolutely miserable, 
so abandoned without help, so entirely depressed, 
that it could hardly be rational to be thankful for 
such a life. 

But something always returned swift upon me 
to check these thoughts, and to reprove me ; and 
particularly, one day walking with my gun in my 
hand, by the. sea-side, I was very pensive upon the 
subject of my present condition, when reason, as it 
were, expostulated with me the other way, thus : 
“Well, you are in a desolate condition it is true; 
but, pray remember, where are the rest of you ? 
Did not you come eleven of you into the boat? 
Where are the ten ? Why were not they saved, and 
you lost ? Why were you singled out ? Is it better 
to be here or there ? ” And then I pointed to the 
sea. All evils are to be considered with the good 
that is in them, and with what worse attends them. 

Then it occurred to me again, how well I was 
furnished for my subsistence, and what would have 
been my case if it had not happened (which was a 
hundred thousand to one) that the ship floated from 
the place where she first struck, and was driven so 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 89 

near to the shore, that I had time to get all these 
things out of her ; what would have been my case, 
if I had been to have lived in the condition in 
which I at first came on shore, without necessaries 
of life, or necessaries to supply and procure them ? 
“ Particularly,” said I aloud (though to myself), 
“ what should I have done without a gun, without 
ammunition, without any tools to make anything, 
or to work with, without clothes, bedding, a tent, 
or any manner of covering ? ” And that now I had 
all these to a sufficient quantity, and was in a fair 
way to provide myself in such a manner as to live 
without my gun, when my ammunition was spent : 
so that I had a tolerable view of subsisting, with- 
out any want, as long as I lived; for I considered, 
from the beginning, how I would provide for the 
accidents that might happen, and for the time that 
was to come, not only after my ammunition should 
be spent, but even after my health or strength 
should decay. 

I confess, I had not entertained any notion of my 
ammunition being destroyed at one blast, I mean 
my powder being blown up by lightning; and this 
made the thoughts of it so surprising to me when 
it lightened and thundered, as I observed just now. 

And now being to enter into a melancholy rela- 
tion of a scene of silent life, such, perhaps, as was 
never heard of in the world before, I shall take it 
from its beginning, and continue it in its order. 
It was, by my account, the 30th of September, 
when, in the manner as above said, I first set foot 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


90 

upon this horrid island ; when the sun, being to 
us in its autumnal equinox, was almost just over 
my head : for I reckoned myself, by observation, 
to be in the latitude of nine degrees twenty-two 
minutes north of the Line. 



A fter I had been there about ten or twelve days,. 

it came into my thoughts that I should lose 
my reckoning of time for want of books, and pen 
and ink, and should even forget the Sabbath days 
from the working days ; but, to prevent this, I cut 
it with my knife upon a large post, in capital let- 
ters ; and making it into a great cross, I set it up 
on the shore where I first landed, viz. “ I came 
on shore here on the 30th of September, 1659.” 
Upon the sides of this square post I cut every day 
a notch with my knife, and every seventh notch was 
as long again as the rest, and every first day of the 
month as long again as that long one : and thus I 
kept my calendar, or weekly, monthly, and yearly 
reckoning of time. 

But it happened that among the many things 
which I brought out of the ship, in the several voy- 
ages which, as above mentioned, I made to it, I got 
several things of less value, but not at all less use- 
ful to me, which I found some time after, in rum- 
maging the chests : as, in particular, pens, ink, and 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


92 

paper ; several parcels in the captain’s, mate’s, gun- 
ner’s, and carpenter’s keeping ; three or four com- 
passes, some mathematical instruments, dials, per- 
spectives, charts, and books of navigation; all of 
which I huddled together, whether I might want 
them or no ; also I found three very good Bibles, 
which came to me in my cargo from England, 
and which I had packed up among my things ; 
some Portuguese books also, and, among them, 
two or three popish prayer-books, and several 
other books, all which I carefully secured. And I 
must not forget, that we had in the ship a dog, 
and two cats, of whose eminent history I may have 
occasion to say something, in its place ; for I car- 
ried both the cats with me ; and as for the dog, 
he jumped out of the ship himself, and swam on 
shore to me the day after I went on shore with 
my first cargo, and was a trusty servant to me for 
many years : I wanted nothing that he could fetch 
me, nor any company that he could make up to 
me, I only wanted to have him talk to me, but 
that would not do. As I observed before, I found 
pens, ink, and paper, and I husbanded them to 
the utmost ; and I shall show that while my ink 
lasted, I kept things very exact, but after that was 
gone, I could not ; for I could not make any ink, 
by any means that I could devise. 

And this put me in mind that I wanted many 
things, notwithstanding all that I had amassed to- 
gether ; and of these, this of ink was one ; as also 
a spade, pickaxe, and shovel, to dig or remove the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


93 

earth ; needles, pins, and thread ; as for linen, I 
soon learned to want that without much difficulty. 

This want of tools made every work I did go 
on heavily : and it was near a whole year before I 
had entirely finished my little pale, or surrounded 
my habitation. The piles or stakes, which were as 
heavy as I could well lift, were a long time in cut- 
ting and preparing in the woods, and more by far, 
in bringing home ; so that I spent sometimes two 
days in cutting and bringing home one of those 
posts, and a third day in driving it into the ground ; 
for which purpose I got a heavy piece of wood at 
first, but at last bethought myself of one of the 
iron crows ; which, however, though I found it an- 
swer, made driving these posts or piles very labori- 
ous and tedious work. But what need I have been 
concerned at the tediousness of anything I had to 
do, seeing I had time enough to do it in ? nor had 
I any other employment, if that had been over, at 
least that I could foresee, except the ranging the 
island to seek for food ; which I did, more or less, 
every day. 

I now began to consider seriously my condition, 
and the circumstance I was reduced to ; and I drew 
up the state of my affairs in writing, not so much 
to leave them to any that were to come after me 
(for I was like to have but few heirs), as to deliver 
my thoughts from daily poring upon them, and 
afflicting my mind : and as my reason began now 
to master my despondency, I began to comfort my- 
self as well as I could, and to set the good against 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


\5l X 


94 


the evil, that I might have something to distinguish 
my case from worse ; and I stated very impartially, 
like debtor and creditor, the comforts I enjoyed 
against the miseries I suffered, thus : — 


EVIL. 

I am cast upon a horrible, 
desolate island, void of all hope 
of recovery. 

I am singled out and sepa- 
rated, as it were, from all the 
world, to be miserable. 


I am divided from mankind, 
a solitaire ; one banished from 
human society. 

I have no clothes to cover 

I am without any defence, 
or means to resist any violence 
of man or beast. 


I have no soul to speak to, 
or relieve me. ^ 


GOOD. 

But I am alive ; and not 
drowned, as all my ship’s com- 
pany were. 

But I am singled out too from 
all the ship’s crew, to be spared 
from death; and He that miracu- 
lously saved me from death, can 
deliver me from this condition. 

But I am not starved, and per- 
ishing in a barren place, afford- 
ing no sustenance. 

But I am in a hot climate, 
where, if I had clothes, I could 
hardly wear them. 

But I am cast on an island 
where I see no wild beast to 
hurt me, as I saw on the coast 
of Africa : and what if I had 
been shipwrecked there ? 

But God wonderfully sent 
the ship in near enough to the 
shore, that I have got out so 
many necessary things as will 
either supply my wants, or en- 
able me to supply myself, even 
as long as I live. 


Upon the whole, here was an undoubted testi- 
mony that there was scarce any condition in the 
world so miserable, but there was something nega- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


95 

tive, or something positive, to be thankful for in 
it: and let this stand as a direction, from the expe- 
rience of the most miserable of all conditions in 
this world, that we may always find in it some- 
thing to comfort ourselves from, and to set, in the 
description of good and evil, on the credit side of 
the account. 

Having now brought my mind a little to relish 
my condition, and given over looking out to sea, 
to see if I could spy a ship ; having, I say, given 
over these things, I began to apply myself to ac- 
commodate my way of living, and to make things 
as easy to me as I could. 

I have already described my habitation, which 
was a tent under the side of a rock, surrounded 
with a strong pale of posts and cables; but I might 
now rather call it a wall, for I raised a kind of wall 
against it of turfs, about two feet thick on the out- 
side ; and after some time (I think it was a year 
and a half) I raised rafters from it, leaning to the 
rock, and thatched or covered it with boughs of 
trees, and such things as I could get, to keep out 
the rain ; which I found, at some times of the year, 
very violent. 

I have already observed how I brought all my 
goods into this pale, and into the cave which I had 
made behind me. But I must observe, too, that 
at first this was a confused heap of goods, which, 
as they lay in no order, so they took up all my 
place. I had no room to turn myself, so I set my- 
self to enlarge my cave, and work farther into the 


96 THE ADVENTURES OF 

earth ; for it was a loose sandy rock, which yielded 
easily to the labour I bestowed on it ; and when I 
found I was pretty safe as to the beasts of prey, I 
worked sideways, to the right hand, into the rock, 
and then turning to the right again, worked quite 
out, and made me a door to come out in the out- 
side of my pale or fortification. 

This gave me not only egress and regress, as it 
were, a back way to my tent and to my storehouse, 
but gave me room to stow my goods. 

\And now I began to apply myself to make such 
necessary things as I found I most wanted, par- 
ticularly a chair and a table; for without these 
I was not able to enjoy the few comforts I had in 
the world; I could not write, or eat, or do several 
things with so much pleasure, without a table : so 
I went to work. And here I must needs observe, 
that as reason is the substance and original of the 
mathematics, so by stating and squaring every- 
thing by reason, and by making the most rational 
judgment of things, every man may be, in time, 
master of every mechanic art. I had never handled 
a tool in my life; and yet, in time, by labour, ap- 
plication, and contrivance I found at last, that I 
wanted nothing but I could have made, especially 
if I had had tools. However, I made abundance 
of things, even without tools; and some with no 
more tools than an adze and a hatchet, which per- 
haps were never made that way before, and that 
with infinite labour. For example, if I wanted a 
board, I had no other way but to cut down a tree, 



ALL MY GOODS IN SUCH ORDER 


- ; 











. 





















■ ■ 




















ROBINSON CRUSOE 


97 

set it on an edge before me, and hew it flat on 
either side with my axe, till I had brought it to be 
as thin as a plank, and then dub it smooth with 
my adze. It is true, by this method, I could make 
but one board of a whole tree; but this I had no 
remedy for but patience, any more than I had for 
a prodigious deal of time and labour which it took 
me up to make a plank or board: but my time or 
labour was little worth, and so it was as well em- 
ployed one way as another. 

However, I made me a table and a chair, as I 
observed above, in the first place ; and this I did 
out of the short pieces of boards that I brought 
on my raft from the ship. But when I wrought 
out some boards, as above, I made large shelves, 
of the breadth of a foot and a half, one over an- 
other, all along one side of my cave, to lay all my 
tools, nails, and iron work on ; and, in a word, to 
separate everything at large in their places, that I 
might easily come at them. I knocked pieces into 
the wall of the rock, to hang my guns and all 
things that would hang up : so that, had my cave 
been seen, it looked like a general magazine of all 
necessary things; and I had everything so ready 
at my hand, that it was a great pleasure to me to 
see all my goods in such order, and especially to 
find my stock of all necessaries so great. 

And now it was that I began to keep a journal 
of every day’s employment; for, indeed, at first, I 
was in too much hurry, and not only as to labour, 
but in much discomposure of mind; and my jour- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


98 

nal would, too, have been full of many dull things: 
for example, I must have said thus — “ Sept. 30th. 
After I had got to shore, and had escaped drown- 
ing, instead of being thankful to God for my de- 
liverance, having first vomited, with the great 
quantity of salt water which was gotten into my 
stomach, and recovering myself a little, I ran about 
the shore, wringing my hands, and beating my 
head and face, exclaiming at my misery, and cry- 
ing out I was undone, undone! till, tired and faint, 
I was forced to lie down on the ground to repose; 
but durst not sleep, for fear of being devoured.” 

Some days after this, and after 1 had been on 
board the ship and got all that I could out of her, 
I could not forbear getting up to the top of a little 
mountain, and looking out to sea, in hopes of see- 
ing a ship: then fancy that, at a vast distance, I 
spied a sail, please myself with the hopes of it, and, 
after looking steadily, till I was almost blind, lose 
it quite, and sit down and weep like a child, and 
thus increase my misery by my folly. 

But, having gotten over these things in some 
measure, and having settled my household stuff 
and habitation, made me a table and a chair, and all 
as handsome about me as I could, I began to keep 
my journal : of which I shall here give you the copy 
(though in it will be told all these particulars over 
again) as long as it lasted ; for, having no more ink, 
I was forced to leave it off. 



THE JOURNAL 

S eptember 30th, 1 659. I, poor miserable Rob- 
inson Crusoe, being shipwrecked, during a 
dreadful storm, in the offing, came on shore on this 
dismal unfortunate island, which I called the I sland 
of Despair ; all the rest of the ship’s company be- 
ing drowned, and myself almost dead. 

All the rest of that day I spent in afflicting my- 
self at the dismal circumstances I was brought to, 
viz. I had neither food, house, clothes, weapon, nor 
place to fly to : and, in despair of any relief, saw 
nothing but death before me ; that I should either 
be devoured by wild beasts, murdered by savages, 
or starved to death for want of food. At the ap- 
proach of night I slept in a tree, for fear of wild 
creatures ; but slept soundly, though it rained all 
night. 

October i. In the morning I saw, to my great 
surprise, the ship had floated with the high tide, and 
was driven on shore again much nearer the island ; 


IOO 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


which, as it was some comfort on one hand (for see- 
ing her sit upright, and not broken in pieces, I 
hoped, if the wind abated, I might get on board, 
and get some food and necessaries out of her for 
my relief), so, on the other hand, it renewed my 
grief at the loss of my comrades, who, I imagined, 
if we had all staid on board, might have saved the 
ship, or, at least, that they would not have been 
all drowned, as they were : and that, had the men 
been saved, we might perhaps have built us a boat, 
out of the ruins of the ship, to have carried us to 
some other part of the world. I spent great part of 
this day in perplexing myself on these things; but 
at length, seeing the ship almost dry, I went upon 
the sand as near as I could, and then swam on 
board. This day also it continued raining, though 
with no wind at all. 

From the ist of October to the 24th. All these 
days entirely spent in many several voyages to 
get all I could out of the ship ; which I brought 
on shore, every tide of flood, upon rafts. Much 
rain also in these days, though with some intervals 
of fair weather: but, it seems, this was the rainy 
season. 

Oct. 20. I overset my raft, and all the goods 
I had got upon it ; but being in shoal water, and 
the things being chiefly heavy, I recovered many 
of them when the tide was out. 

Oct. 25. It rained all night and all day, with 
some gusts of wind ; during which time the ship 
broke in pieces (the wind blowing a little harder 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


IOI 


than before) and was no more to be seen, except 
the wreck of her, and that only at low water. I 
spent this day in covering and securing the goods 
which I had saved, that the rain might not spoil 
them. 

Oct. 26. I walked about the shore almost all 
day, to find out a place to fix my habitation ; greatly 
concerned to secure myself from any attack in the 
night, either from wild beasts or men. Towards 
night I fixed upon a proper place, under a rock, 
and marked out a semicircle for my encampment ; 
which I resolved to strengthen with a work, wall, 
or fortification, made of double piles lined within 
with cables, and without with turf. 

From the 26th to the 30th, I worked very hard 
in carrying all my goods to my new habitation, 
though some part of the time it rained exceedingly 
hard. 

The 31st, in the morning, I went out into the 
island with my gun, to see for some food, and 
discover the country ; when I killed a she-goat, 
and her kid followed me home, which I afterwards 
killed also, because it would not feed. 

November i. I set up my tent under a rock, 
and lay there for the first night ; making it as large 
as I could, with stakes driven in to swing my ham- 
mock upon. 

Nov. 2. I set up all my chests and boards, and 
the pieces of timber which made my rafts ; and 
with them formed a fence round me, a little within 
the place I had marked out for my fortification. 


102 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


Nov. 3. I went out with my gun, and killed two 
fowls like ducks, which were very good food. In 
the afternoon I went to work to make me a table. 

Nov. 4. This morning I began to order my 
times of work, of going out with my gun, time of 
sleep, and time of diversion ; viz., every morning 
I walked out with my gun for two or three hours, 
if it did not rain ; then employed myself to work 
till about eleven o’clock ; then ate what I had to 
live on ; and from twelve to two I lay down to 
sleep, the weather being excessive hot ; and then, 
in the evening, to work again. The working part 
of this day and the next was wholly employed in 
making my table, for I was yet but a very sorry 
workman: though time and necessity made me a 
complete natural mechanic soon after, as I believe 
they would any one else. 

\ Nov. 5. This day went abroad with my gun and 
dog, and killed a wild cat ; her skin pretty soft, 
but her flesh good for nothing : of every creature 
that I killed I took off the skins, and preserved 
them. Coming back by the seashore, I saw many 
sorts of sea fowl which I did not understand ; but 
was surprised, and almost frightened, with two or 
three seals, which while I was gazing at them (not 
well knowing what they were) got into the sea, and 
escaped me for that time. 

Nov. 6. After my morning walk I went to 
work with my table again, and finished it, though 
not to my liking : nor was it long before I learned 
to mend it. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


103 

Nov. 7. Now it began to be settled fair weather. 
The 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and part of the 12th (for 
the 1 ith was Sunday, according to my reckoning), 
I took wholly up to make me a chair, and with 
much ado brought it to a tolerable shape, but 
never to please me ; and, even in the making, I 
pulled it in pieces several times. 

Note. I soon neglected my keeping Sundays ; 
for, omitting my mark for them on my post, I for- 
got which was which. 

Nov. 13. This day it rained; which refreshed 
me exceedingly, and cooled the earth : but it was 
accompanied with terrible thunder and lightning, 
which frightened me dreadfully, for fear of my pow- 
der. As soon as it was over, I resolved to separate 
my stock of powder into as many little parcels as 
possible, that it might not be in danger. 

Nov. 14, 15, 16. These three days I spent in 
making little square chests or boxes, which might 
hold about a pound, or two pounds at most, of 
powder : and so, putting the powder in, I stowed 
it in places as secure and as remote from one an- 
other as possible. On one of these three days I 
killed a large bird that was good to eat ; but I knew 
not what to call it. 

Nov. 17. This day I began to dig behind my 
tent, into the rock, to make room for my farther 
convenience. 

Note. Three things I wanted exceedingly for this 
work, viz., a pickaxe, a shovel, and a wheelbarrow, 
or basket; so I desisted from my work, and began 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


104 

to consider how to supply these wants, and make 
me some tools. As for a pickaxe, I made use of 
the iron crows, which were proper enough, though 
heavy : but the next thing was a shovel or spade ; 
this was so absolutely necessary that, indeed, I 
could do nothing effectually without it; but what 
kind of one to make I knew not. 

I Nov. 18. The next day, in searching the woods, 
I found a tree of that wood, or like it, which in the 
Brazils they call the iron tree, from its exceeding 
hardness : of this, with great labour, and almost 
spoiling my axe, I cut a piece ; and brought it home, 
too, with difficulty enough, for it was exceeding 
heavy. The excessive hardness of the wood, and 
my having no other way, made me a long while 
upon this machine : for I worked it effectually, by 
little and little, into the form of a shovel or spade ; 
the handle exactly shaped like ours in England, 
only that the broad part having no iron shod upon 
it at bottom, it would not last me so long: how- 
ever, it served well enough for the uses which I had 
occasion to put it to ; but never was a shovel, 
I believe, made after that fashion, or so long in 
making. 

I was still deficient, for I wanted a basket, or a 
wheelbarrow. A basket I could not make by any 
means, having no such things as twigs that would 
bend to make wicker ware, at least, none yet 
found out; and as to the wheelbarrow, I fancied 
I could make all but the wheel, but that I had no 
notion of; neither did I know how to go about 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


105 

it; besides, I had no possible way to make iron 
gudgeons for the spindle or axis of the wheel to 
run in; so I gave it over, and, for carrying away 
the earth which I dug out of the cave, I made me 
a thing like a hod, which the labourers carry mor- 
tar in for the bricklayers. This was not so diffi- 
cult to me as the making the shovel: and yet this 
and the shovel, and the attempt which I made in 
vain to make a wheelbarrow, took me up no less 
than four days ; I mean, always excepting my morn- 
ing walk with my gun, which I seldom omitted, and 
very seldom failed also bringing home something 
fit to eat. 

Nov. 23. My other work having now stood 
still, because of my making these tools, when they 
were finished I went on; and working every day, 
as my strength and time allowed, I spent eighteen 
days entirely in widening and deepening my cave, 
that it might hold my goods commodiously. 

Note. During all this time, I worked to make 
this room or cave spacious enough to accommo- 
date me as a warehouse or magazine, a kitchen, a 
dining-room, and a cellar. As for a lodging, I kept 
to the tent : except that sometimes, in the wet sea- 
son of the year, it rained so hard that I could not 
keep myself dry; which caused me afterwards to 
cover all my place within my pale with long poles, 
and in the form of rafters, leaning against the rock, 
and load them with flags and large leaves of trees, 
like a thatch. 

December 10. I began now to think my cave or 


IO 6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

vault finished; when on a sudden (it seems I had 
made it too large) a great quantity of earth fell down 
from the top and one side; so much, that, in short, 
it frightened me, and not without reason too; for 
if I had been under it, I should never have wanted 
a grave-digger. Upon this disaster, I had a great 
deal of work to do over again, for I had the loose 
earth to carry out; and, which was of more import- 
ance, I had the ceiling to prop up, so that I might 
be sure no more would come down. 

Dec. ii. This day I went to work with it accord- 
ingly, and got two shores or posts pitched upright 
to the top, with two pieces of board across over 
each post; this I finished the next day, and setting 
more posts up with boards, in about a week more I 
had the roof secured; and the posts, standing in 
rows, served me for partitions to part off my house. 

Dec. 17. From this day to the 30th I placed 
shelves, and knocked up nails on the posts, to hang 
everything up that could be hung up: and now I 
began to be in some order within doors. 

Dec. 20. I carried everything into the cave, and 
began to furnish my house, and set up some pieces 
of boards, like a dresser, to order my victuals upon ; 
but boards began to be very scarce with me; also 
I made me another table. 

Dec. 24. Much rain all night and all day; no 
stirring out. 

Dec. 25. Rain all day. 

Dec. 26. No rain; and the earth much cooler 
than before, and pleasanter. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


107 

Dec. 27. Killed a young goat; and lamed an- 
other, so that I catched it, and led it home in a 
string: when I had it home, I bound and splint- 
ered up its leg, which was broke. 

N.B. I took such care of it that it lived ; and the 
Rg grew well and as strong as ever: but, by nurs- 
ing it so long, it grew tame, and fed upon the little 
green at my door, and would not go away. This was 
the first time that I entertained a thought of breed- 
ing up some tame creatures, that I might have food 
when my powder and shot was all spent. 

Dec. 28, 29, 30, 3 1 . Great heats and no breeze ; 
so that there was no stirring abroad, except in the 
evening, for food; this time I spent in putting all 
my things in order within doors. 

January i. Very hot still; but I went abroad 
early and late with my gun, and lay still in the 
middle of the day. This evening, going farther 
into the valleys which lay towards the centre of 
the island, I found there was plenty of goats, 
though exceeding shy, and hard to come at; how- 
ever, I resolved to try if I could not bring my dog 
to hunt them down. Accordingly, the next day, I 
went out with my dog, and set him upon the goats: 
but I was mistaken, for they all faced about upon 
the dog: and he knew his danger too well, for he 
would not come near them. 

Jan. 3. I began my fence or wall; which, being 
still jealous of my being attacked by somebody, I 
resolved to make very thick and strong. 

N. B. This wall being described before, I pur- 


108 THE ADVENTURES OF 

posely omit what was said in the journal; it is suf- 
ficient to observe, that I was no less time than from 
the 3d of January to the 14th of April, working, 
finishing, and perfecting this wall ; though it was 
no more than about twenty-five yards in length, 
being a half-circle, from one place in the rock to 
another place, about twelve yards from it, the door 
of the cave being in the centre, behind it. 

All this time I worked very hard, the rains 
hindering me many days, nay, sometimes weeks 
together: but I thought I should never be perfectly 
secure till this wall was finished; and it is scarce 
credible what inexpressible labour everything was 
done with, especially the bringing piles out of 
the woods and driving them into the ground; for 
I made them much bigger than I needed to have 
done. 

When this wall was finished and the outside 
double fenced, with a turf wall raised up close to 
it, I persuaded myself that if any people were to 
come on shore there they would not perceive any- 
thing like a habitation ; and it was very well I did 
so, as may be observed hereafter, upon a very re- 
markable occasion. 

During this time I made my rounds in the woods 
for game every day, when the rain permitted me, 
and made frequent discoveries, in these walks, of 
something or other to my advantage; particularly, 
I found a kind of wild pigeons, who build, not as 
wood-pigeons, in a tree, but rather as house-pigeons, 
in the holes of the rocks; and taking some young 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


109 

ones, I endeavoured to breed them up tame, and did 
so ; but when they grew older they flew all away ; 
which, perhaps, was, at first, for want of feeding 
them, for I had nothing to give them; however, I 
frequently found their nests, and got their young 
ones, which were very good meat. And now, in 
the managing my household affairs, I found my- 
self wanting in many things, which I thought at 
first it was impossible for me to make; as indeed, 
as to some of them, it was: for instance, I could 
never make a cask to be hooped. I had a small 
runlet or two, as I observed before ; but I could 
never arrive at the capacity of making one by them, 
though I spent many weeks about it ; I could 
neither put in the heads, nor join the staves so 
true to one another as to make them hold water ; 
so I gave that also over. In the next place, I was 
at a great loss for candle; so that, as soon as it 
was dark, which was generally by seven o’clock, I 
was obliged to go to bed. I remembered the lump 
of bees-wax with which I made candles in my 
African adventure ; but I had none of that now ; 
the only remedy I had was, that when I had killed 
a goat, I saved the tallow, and with a little dish 
made of clay, which I baked in the sun, to which 
I added a wick of some oakum, I made me a lamp; 
and this gave me light, though not a clear steady 
light like a candle. In the middle of all my lab- 
ours it happened that, in rummaging my things, 
I found a little bag, which, as I hinted before, had 
been filled with corn, for the feeding of poultry ; not 


I IO 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


for this voyage, but before, as I suppose, when 
the ship came from Lisbon. What little remainder 
of corn had been in the bag was all devoured by 
the rats, and I saw nothing in the bag but husks 
and dust : and being willing to have the bag for 
some other use (I think it was to put powder in, 
when I divided it for fear of the lightning, or some 
such use), I shook the husks of corn out of it, on 
one side of my fortification under the rock. 

\ It was a little before the great rain just now 
mentioned that I threw this stuff away, taking no 
notice of anything, and not so much as remember- 
ing that I had thrown anything there, when, about 
a month after, I saw some few stalks of something 
green shooting out of the ground, which I fancied 
might be some plant I had not seen; but I was sur- 
prised, and perfectly astonished, when, after a little 
longer time, I saw about ten or twelve ears come 
out, which were perfect green barley, of the same 
kind as our European, nay, as our English barley. 

It is impossible to express the astonishment and 
confusion of my thoughts on this occasion. I had 
hitherto acted upon no religious foundation at all : 
indeed, I had very few notions of religion in my 
head, nor had entertained any sense of any things 
that had befallen me, otherwise than as chance, or, 
as we lightly say, what pleases God; without so 
much as inquiring into the end of Providence in 
these things, or his order in governing events in the 
world. But after I saw barley grow there, in a 
climate which I knew was not proper for corn, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


1 1 1 


and especially as I knew not how it came there, it 
startled me strangely ; and I began to suggest that 
God had miraculously caused this grain to grow 
without any help of seed sown, and that it was so 
directed purely for my sustenance, on that wild 
miserable place. 

v This touched my heart a little, and brought tears 
out of my eyes ; and I began to bless myself that 
such a prodigy of nature should happen upon my 
account ; and this was the more strange to me, be- 
cause I saw near it still, all along by the side of the 
rock, some other straggling stalks, which proved to 
be stalks of rice, and which I knew, because I had 
seen it grow in Africa, when I was ashore there. 

I not only thought these the pure productions 
of Providence for my support, but, not doubting 
that there was more in the place, I went over all 
that part of the island where I had been before, 
searching in every corner, and under every rock, 
for more of it ; but I could not find any. At last 
it occurred to my thoughts that I had shook out a 
bag of chickenVmeat in that place, and then the 
wonder began to cease ; and I must confess, my 
religious thankfulness to God’s providence began 
to abate too, upon the discovering that all this was 
nothing but what was common; though I ought 
to have been as thankful for so strange and unfore- 
seen a providence as if it had been miraculous ; 
for it was really the work of Providence, as to me, 
that should order or appoint that ten or twelve 
grains of corn should remain unspoiled, when the 


I 12 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


rats had destroyed all the rest, as if it had been 
dropped from heaven ; as also, that I should throw 
it out in that particular place, where, it being in the 
shade of a high rock, it sprang up immediately; 
whereas, if I had thrown it anywhere else at that 
time, it would have been burned up and destroyed. 

I carefully saved the ears of this corn, you may 
be sure, in their season, which was about the end 
of June ; and, laying up every corn, I resolved to 
sow them all again ; hoping, in time, to have some 
quantity sufficient to supply me with bread. But 
it was not till the fourth year that I could allow 
myself the least grain of this corn to eat, and even 
then but sparingly, as I shall show afterwards in 
its order ; for I lost all that I sowed the first sea- 
son, by not observing the proper time ; as I sowed 
just before the dry season, so that it never came 
up at all, at least not as it would have done ; of 
which in its place. 

Besides this barley, there were, as above, twenty 
or thirty stalks of rice, which I preserved with the 
same care, and whose use was of the same kind, 
or to the same purpose, viz., to make me bread, 
or rather food ; for I found ways to cook it up 
without baking, though I did that also after some 
time. — But to return to my Journal. 

I worked excessively hard these three or four 
months, to get my wall done; and the 14th of 
April I closed it up ; contriving to get into it, not by 
a door, but over the wall, by a ladder, that there 
might be no sign, on the outside, of my habitation. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


IX 3 

April i 6 . I finished the ladder; so I went up 
with the ladder to the top, and then pulled it up 
after me, and let it down in the inside: this was a 
complete enclosure to me ; for within I had room 
enough, and nothing could come at me from with- 
out, unless it could first mount my wall. 

The very next day after this wall was finished, 
I had almost all my labour overthrown at once, 
and myself killed ; the case was thus: — As I was 
busy in the inside of it, behind my tent, just at 
the entrance into my cave, I was terribly fright- 
ened with a most dreadful surprising thing indeed; 
for, all on a sudden, I found the earth come crumb- 
ling down from the roof of my cave, and from 
the edge of the hill over my head, and two of the 
posts I had set up in the cave cracked in a fright- 
ful manner. I was heartily scared ; but thought 
nothing of what really was the cause, only think- 
ing that the top of my cave was falling in, as some 
of it had done before: and for fear I should be 
buried in it, I ran forward to my ladder, and not 
thinking myself safe there neither, I got over my 
wall for fear of the pieces of the hill which I ex- 
pected might roll down upon me. I had no sooner 
stepped down upon the firm ground, than I plainly 
saw it was a terrible earthquake : for the ground 
I stood on shook three times at about eight min- 
utes* distance, with three such shocks as would 
have overturned the strongest building that could 
be supposed to have stood on the earth ; and a 
great piece of the top of a rock, which stood about 


1 1 4 THE ADVENTURES OF 

half a mile from me, next the sea, fell down with 
such a terrible noise as I never heard in all my 
life. I perceived also that the very sea was put into 
a violent motion by it ; and I believe the shocks 
were stronger under the water than on the island. 

I was so much amazed with the thing itself 
(having never felt the like, nor discoursed with any 
one that had) that I was like one dead or stupi- 
fied; and the motion of the earth made my stom- 
ach sick, like one that was tossed at sea ; but the 
noise of the falling of the rock awaked me, as it 
were, and, rousing me from the stupified condi- 
tion I was in, filled me with horror, and I thought 
of nothing but the hill falling upon my tent and 
my household goods, and burying all at once; this 
sunk my very soul within me a second time. 

After the third shock was over, and I felt no 
more for some time, I began to take courage ; yet 
I had not heart enough to go over my wall again, 
for fear of being buried alive ; but sat still upon 
the ground, greatly cast down and disconsolate, 
not knowing what to do. All this while I had not 
the least serious religious thought ; nothing but 
the common “ Lord, have mercy upon me ! ” and 
when it was over that went away, too. 

While I sat thus, I found the air overcast and 
grow cloudy, as if it would rain ; and soon after 
the wind rose by little and little, so that in less 
than half an hour it blew a most dreadful hurri- 
cane : the sea was, all on a sudden, covered with 
foam and froth ; the shore was covered with a 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


XI 5 

breach of the water ; the trees were torn up by the 
roots; and a terrible storm it was. This held about 
three hours, and then began to abate; and in two 
hours more it was quite calm, and began to rain 
very hard. All this while I sat upon the ground, 
very much terrified and dejected ; when, on a sud- 
den, it came into my thoughts that these winds 
and rain being the consequence of the earthquake, 
the earthquake itself was spent and over, and I 
might venture into my cave again. With this 
thought my spirits began to revive ; and the rain 
also helping to persuade me, I went in, and sat 
down in my tent ; but the rain was so violent, that 
my tent was ready to be beaten down with it ; and 
I was forced to get into my cave, though very 
much afraid and uneasy, for fear it should fall on 
my head. This violent rain forced me to a new 
work, viz., to cut a hole through my new forti- 
fication, like a sink, to let the water go out, which 
would else have drowned my cave. After I had 
been in my cave for some time, and found no 
more shocks of the earthquake follow, I began to 
be more composed. And now, to support my 
spirits, which indeed wanted it very much, I went 
to my little store and took a small cup of rum ; 
which, however, I did then, and always, very spar- 
ingly, knowing I could have no more when that 
was gone. It continued raining all that night and 
great part of the next day, so that I could not stir 
abroad : but my mind being more composed, I be- 
gan to think of what I had best do ; concluding 


ii 6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

that, if the island was subject to these earthquakes, 
there would be no living for me in a cave, but I 
must consider of building me some little hut in 
an open place, which I might surround with a wall, 
as I had done here, and so make myself secure 
from wild beasts or men : for if I staid where I was, 
I should certainly, one time or other, be buried 
alive. 

With these thoughts, I resolved to remove my 
tent from the place where it now stood, being just 
under the hanging precipice of the hill, and which, 
if it should be shaken again, would certainly fall 
upon my tent. I spent the two next days, being 
the 19th and 20th of April, in contriving where 
and how to remove my habitation. The fear of 
being swallowed alive affected me so that I never 
slept in quiet ; and yet the apprehension of lying 
abroad, without any fence, was almost equal to it; 
but still, when I looked about, and saw how every- 
thing was put in order, how pleasantly I was con- 
cealed, and how safe from danger, it made me very 
loath to remove. In the mean time, it occurred to 
me that it would require a vast deal of time for 
me to do this ; and that I must be contented to run 
the risk where I was, till I had formed a conven- 
ient camp, and secured it so as to remove to it. 
With this conclusion I composed myself for a 
time ; and resolved that I would go to work with 
all speed to build me a wall with piles and cables, 
etc., in a circle as before, and set up my tent in it 
when it was finished ; but that I would venture to 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


117 

stay where I was till it was ready and fit to move 
to. This was the 21st. 

April 22. The next morning I began to con- 
sider of means to put this measure into execution; 
but I was at a great loss about the tools. I had 
three large axes, and abundance of hatchets (for we 
carried the hatchets for traffic with the Indians) ; 
but with much chopping and cutting knotty hard 
wood, they were all full of notches, and dull; and 
though I had a grindstone, I could not turn it 
and grind my tools too. This caused me as much 
thought as a statesman would have bestowed upon 
a grand point of politics, or a judge upon the life 
and death of a man. At length I contrived a wheel 
with a string, to turn it with my foot, that I might 
have both my hands at liberty. 

Note. I had never seen any such thing in Eng- 
land, or at least not to take notice how it was done, 
though since I have observed it is very common 
there; besides that, my grindstone was very large 
and heavy. This machine cost me a full week’s 
work to bring it to perfection. 

April 28, 29. These two whole days I took up 
in grinding my tools, my machine for turning my 
grindstone performing very well. 

April 30. Having perceived that my bread had 
been low a great while, I now took a survey of it, 
and reduced myself to one biscuit-cake a day, 
which made my heart very heavy. 



M ay i. In the morning, looking towards the 
seaside, the tide being low, I saw some- 
thing lie on the shore bigger than ordinary, and it 
looked like a cask ; when I came to it, I found a 
small barrel, and two or three pieces of the wreck 
of the ship, which were driven on shore by the 
late hurricane; and looking towards the wreck it- 
self, I thought it seemed to lie higher out of the 
water than it used to do. I examined the barrel 
that was driven on shore, and soon found it was a 
barrel of gunpowder; but it had taken water, and 
the powder was caked as hard as a stone : how- 
ever, I rolled it farther on the shore for the pre- 
sent, and went on upon the sands, as near as I 
could to the wreck of the ship, to look for more. 

When I came down to the ship, I found it 
strangely removed. The forecastle, which lay be- 
fore buried in the sand, was heaved up at least six 
feet : and the stern (which was broke to pieces, 
and parted from the rest, by the force of the sea, 
soon after I had left rummaging of her) was tossed. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


119 

as it were, up, and cast on one side: and the sand 
was thrown so high on that side next her stern, 
that I could now walk quite up to her when the 
tide was out ; whereas there was a great piece of 
water before, so that I could not come within a 
quarter of a mile of the wreck without swimming. 
I was surprised with this at first, but soon con- 
cluded it must be done by the earthquake ; and as 
by this violence the ship was more broken open 
than formerly, so many things came daily on shore, 
which the sea had loosened, and which the winds 
and water rolled by degrees to the land. 

This wholly diverted my thoughts from the de- 
sign of removing my habitation ; and I busied myself 
mightily, that day especially, in searching whether I 
could make any way into the ship; but I found no- 
thing was to be expected of that kind, for all the in- 
side of the ship was choked up with sand. However, 
as I had learned not todespairof anything, I resolved 
to pull everything to pieces that I could of the ship, 
concluding that everything I could get from her 
would be of some use or other to me. 

May 3. I began with my saw, and cut a piece 
of a beam through, which I thought held some of 
the upper part or quarter-deck together ; and when 
I had cut it through, I cleared away the sand as well 
as I could from the side which lay highest ; but the 
tide coming in, I was obliged to give over for that 
time. 

May 4. I went a-fishing, but caught not one fish 
that I durst eat of, till I was weary of my sport ; 


1 10 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


when, just going to leave off, I caught a young 
dolphin. I had made me a long line of some rope- 
yarn, but I had no hooks ; yet I frequently caught 
fish enough, as much as I cared to eat ; all which 
I dried in the sun, and ate them (dry y 

May 5. Worked on the wreck : cut another 
beam asunder, and brought three great fir planks 
off from the decks, which I tied together, and made 
swim on shore when the tide of flood came on. 

May 6. Worked on the wreck : got several iron 
bolts out of her, and other pieces of iron work ; 
worked very hard, and came home very much tired, 
and had thoughts of giving it over. 

May 7. Went to the wreck again, but not with 
an intent to work ; but found the weight of the 
wreck had broke itself down, the beams being cut; 
that several pieces of the ship seemed to lie loose; 
and the inside of the hold lay so open that I could 
see into it, but almost full of water and sand. 

May 8. Went to the wreck, and carried an iron 
crow to wrench up the deck, which lay now quite 
clear of the water and sand. I wrenched up two 
planks, and brought them on shore also with the 
tide. I left the iron crow in the wreck for next day. 

May 9. Went to the wreck, and with the crow 
made way into the body of the wreck, and felt sev- 
eral casks, and loosened them with the crow, but 
could not break them up. I felt also a roll of Eng- 
lish lead, and could stir it ; but it was too heavy to 
remove. 

May 10 to 14. Went every day to the wreck, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


121 


and got a great many pieces of timber, and boards, 
or plank, and two or three hundredweight of iron. 

May i 5. I carried two hatchets, to try if I could 
not cut a piece off the roll of lead, by placing the 
edge of one hatchet, and driving it with the other ; 
but as it lay about a foot and a half in the water, I 
could not make any blow to drive the hatchet. 

May 16. It had blown hard in the night, and 
the wreck appeared more broken by the force of 
the water ; but I stayed so long in the woods, to 
get pigeons for food, that the tide prevented my 
going to the wreck that day. 

May 17. I saw some pieces of the wreck blown 
on shore, at a great distance, two miles off me, but 
resolved to see what they were, and found it was 
a piece of the head, but too heavy for me to bring 
away. 

I May 24. Every day, to this day, I worked on 
the wreck ; and with hard labour I loosened some 
things so much, with the crow, that the first flow- 
ing tide several casks floated out, and two of the 
seamen's chests : but the wind blowing from the 
shore, nothing came to land that day but pieces of 
timber, and a hogshead, which had some Brazil 
£ork in it ; but the salt water and the sand had 
spoiled it. I continued this work every day to the 
1 5th of June, except the time necessary to get food ; 
which I always appointed, during this part of my 
employment, to be when the tide was up, that I 
might be ready when it was ebbed out : and by 
this time I had gotten timber, and plank, and iron 


122 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


work, enough to have built a good boat, if I had 
known how : and I also got, at several times, and 
in several pieces, near one hundredweight of the 
sheet-lead. 

June 16. Going down to the seaside, I found 
a large tortoise, or turtle. This was the first I had 
seen ; which, it seems, was only my misfortune, 
not any defect of the place, or scarcity ; for had I 
happened to be on the other side of the island, 

I might have had hundreds of them every day, 
as I found afterwards ; but perhaps had paid dear 
enough for them. 

June 17 I spent in cooking the turtle. I found 
in her threescore eggs : and her flesh was to me, at 
that time, the most savoury and pleasant that I 
ever tasted in my life, having had no flesh, but 
of goats and fowls, since I landed in this horrid 
place. 

June 18. Rained all that day, and I stayed 
within. I thought, at this time, the rain felt cold, 
and I was somewhat chilly; which I knew was not 
usual in that latitude. 

June 19. Very ill, and shivering, as if the wea- 
ther had been cold. 

June 20. No rest all night; violent pains in my 
head, and feverish. 

June 21. Very ill; frightened almost to death 
with the apprehensions of my sad condition, to be 
sick, and no help : prayed to God, for the first time^ 
since the storm off Hull ; but scarce knew what I 
said, or why, my thoughts being all confused. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


123 

June 22. A little better: but under dreadful 
apprehensions of sickness. 

June 23. Very bad again, cold and shivering, 
and then a violent headache. 

June 24. Much better. 

June 25. An ague very violent : the fit held me 
seven hours ; cold fit, and hot, with faint sweats 
after it. 

June 26. Better; and, having no victuals to eat, 
took my gun, but found myself very weak : how- 
ever, I killed a she-goat, and with much difficulty 
got it home, and broiled some of it, and ate. I 
would fain have stewed it, and made some broth, 
but had no pot. 

V June 27. The ague again so violent that I lay 
a-bed all day, and neither ate nor drank. I was 
ready to perish for thirst, but so weak I had not 
strength to stand up, or to get myself any water to 
drink. Prayed to God again, but was light-headed ; 
and when I was not, I was so ignorant that I knew 
not what to say: only lay and cried, “ Lord, look 
upon me! Lord, pity me! Lord, have mercy upon 
me! ” I suppose I did nothing else for two or three 
hours ; till the fit wearing off, I fell asleep, and did 
not wake till far in the night. When I awoke, I 
found myself much refreshed, but weak, and ex- 
ceeding thirsty : however, as I had no water in my 
whole habitation, I was forced to lie till mornirtg, 
and went to sleep again. In this second sleep I had 
this terrible dream : I thought that I was sitting 
on the ground, on the outside of my wall, where 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


124 

I sat when the storm blew after the earthquake, 
and that I saw a man descend from a great black 
cloud, in a bright flame of fire, and fight upon the 
ground ; he was all over as bright as a flame, so 
that I could but just bear to look towards him; his 
countenance was most inexpressibly dreadful, im- 
possible for words to describe; when he stepped 
upon the ground with his feet, I thought the earth 
trembled, just as it had done before in the earth- 
quake; and all the air looked, to my apprehension, 
as if it had been filled with flashes of fire. He had 
no sooner landed upon the earth, but he moved 
forward towards me, with a long spear or weapon 
in his hand, to kill me; and when he came to a 
rising ground, at some distance, he spoke to me, 
or I heard a voice so terrible that it is impossible 
to express the terror of it; all that I can say I un- 
derstood, was this : “ Seeing all these things have 
not brought thee to repentance, now thou shalt 
die ” ; at which words, I thought he lifted up the 
spear that was in his hand, to kill me. 

No one that shall ever read this account will 
expect that I should be able to describe the hor- 
rors of my soul at this terrible vision ; I mean that, 
even while it was a dream, I even dreamed of those 
horrors ; nor is it any more possible to describe 
the impression that remained upon my mind when 
1 awaked, and found it was but a dream. 

I had, alas! no divine knowledge: what I had 
received by the good instruction of my father was 
then worn out, by an uninterrupted series, for eight 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


125 

years, of seafaring wickedness, and a constant con- 
versation with none but such as were, like myself, 
wicked and profane to the last degree. I do not 
remember that I had, in all that time, one thought 
that so much as tended either to looking upward 
towards God, or inward towards a reflection upon 
my own ways; but a certain stupidity of soul, with- 
out desire of good or consciousness of evil, had 
entirely overwhelmed me ; and I was all that the 
most hardened, unthinking, wicked creature among 
our common sailors can be supposed to be ; not 
having the least sense, either of the fear of God, in 
danger, or of thankfulness to him, in deliverances. 

V In the relating what is already part of my story, 
this will be the more easily believed, when I shall 
add, that through , all the variety of miseries that 
had to this day befallen me, I never had so much 
as one thought of its being the hand of God, or 
that it was a just punishment for my sin, either my 
rebellious behaviour against my father, or my pre- 
sent sins, which were great; or even as a punish- 
ment for the general course of my wicked life. 
When I was on the desperate expedition on the 
desert shores of Africa, I never had so much as one 
thought what would become of me, or one wish to 
God to direct me whither I should go, or to keep 
me from the danger which apparently surrounded 
me, as well from voracious creatures as cruel sav- 
ages ; but I was quite thoughtless of a God or a 
Providence ; acted like a mere brute, from the prin- 
ciples of nature, and by the dictates of common 


126 THE ADVENTURES OF 

sense only; and indeed hardly that. When I was 
delivered and taken up at sea by the Portuguese 
captain, well used, and dealt with justly and hon- 
ourably, as well as charitably, I had not the least 
thankfulness in my thoughts. When, again, I was 
shipwrecked, ruined, and in danger of drowning, 
on this island, I was as far from remorse, or look- 
ing on it as a judgment; I only said to myself 
often, that I was an unfortunate dog, and born to 
be always miserable. 

It is true, when I first got on shore here, and 
found all my ship’s crew drowned and myself spared, 
I was surprised with a kind of ecstasy, and some 
transports of soul, which, had the grace of God 
assisted, might have come up to true thankfulness; 
but it ended where it began, in a mere common 
flight of joy; or, as I may say, being glad I was 
alive, without the least reflection upon the distin- 
guished goodness of the hand which had preserved 
me, and had singled me out to be preserved when 
all the rest were destroyed, or any inquiry why 
Providence had been thus merciful to me : just the 
same common sort of joy which seamen generally 
have, after they are got safe ashore from a ship- 
wreck, which they drown all in the next bowl of 
punch, and forget almost as soon as it is over; and 
all the rest of my life was like it. Even when I was 
afterwards, on due consideration, made sensible of 
my condition, — how I was cast on this dreadful 
place, out of the reach of human kind, out of all 
hope of relief, or prospect of redemption, — as 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


127 

soon as I saw but a prospect of living, and that I 
should not starve and perish for hunger, all the 
sense of my affliction wore off, and I began to be 
very easy, applied myself to the works proper for 
my preservation and supply, and was far enough 
from being afflicted at my condition, as a judgment 
from Heaven, or as the hand of God against me ; 
these were thoughts which very seldom entered 
into my head. 

The growing-up of the corn, as is hinted in my 
Journal, had, at first, some little influence upon 
me, and began to affect me with seriousness, as long 
as I thought it had something miraculous in it ; 
but as soon as that part of the thought was re- 
moved, all the impression which was raised from it 
wore off also, as I have noted already. Even the 
earthquake, though nothing could be more terrible 
in its nature, or more immediately directing to 
the invisible Power which alone directs such things, 
yet no sooner was the fright over, but the impres- 
sion it had made went off also. I had no more 
sense of God, or his judgments, much less of the 
present affliction of my circumstances being from 
his hand, than if I had been in the most prosper- 
ous condition of life. But now, when I began to 
be sick, and a leisure view of the miseries of death 
came to place itself before me, when my spirits 
began to sink under the burden of a strong dis- 
temper, and nature was exhausted with the violence 
of the fever, conscience, that had slept so long, 
began to awake, and I reproached myself with my 


128 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


past life, in which I had so evidently, by uncom- 
mon wickedness, provoked the justice of God to 
lay me under uncommon strokes, and to deal with 
me in so vindictive a manner. These reflections 
oppressed me for the second or third day of my 
distemper; and in the violence as well of the fever 
as of the dreadful reproaches of my conscience, ex- 
torted from me some words like praying to God, 
though I cannot say it was a prayer attended either 
with desires or with hopes; it was rather the voice 
of mere fright and distress. My thoughts were 
confused, the convictions great upon my mind, and 
the horror of dying in such a miserable condition 
raised vapours in my head with the mere appre- 
hension; and, in these hurries of my soul, I knew 
not what my tongue might express ; but it was 
rather exclamation, such as, “ Lord, what a miser- 
able creature am I ! If I should be sick, I shall 
certainly die for want of help; and what will be- 
come of me ? ” Then the tears burst out of my 
eyes, and I could say no more for a good while. 
In this interval, the good advice of my father came 
to my mind, and presently his prediction, which I 
mentioned at the beginning of this story, viz., that 
if I did take this foolish step, God would not bless 
me ; and I should have leisure hereafter to reflect 
upon having neglected his counsel, when there 
might be none to assist in my recovery. “ Now,” 
said I aloud, “my dear father’s words are come to 
pass: God’s justice has overtaken me, and I have 
none to help or hear me. I rejected the voice of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 129 

Providence, which had mercifully put me in a sta- 
tion of life wherein I might have been happy and 
easy; but I would neither see it myself, nor learn 
from my parents to know the blessing of it. I left 
them to mourn over my folly ; and now I am left 
to mourn under the consequences of it; I refused 
their help and assistance who would have pushed 
me in the world, and would have made everything 
easy to me; and now I have difficulties to struggle 
with, too great for even nature itself to support ; 
and no assistance, no comfort, no advice.” Then I 
cried out, “ Lord, be my help, for I am in great 
distress.” This was the first prayer, if I may call 
it so, that I had made for many years. — But I re- 
turn to my Journal. 



J une 28. Having been somewhat refreshed with 
the sleep I had had, and the fit being entirely 
off, I got up ; and though the fright and terror of 
my dream was very great, yet I considered that 
the fit of the ague would return again the next 
day, and now was my time to get something to 
refresh and support myself when I should be ill. 
The first thing I did was to fill a large square 
case-bottle with water, and set it upon my table, 
in reach of my bed; and to take off the chill or 
aguish disposition of the water, I put about a 
quarter of a pint of rum into it, and mixed them 
together. Then I got me a piece of the goat’s 
flesh and broiled it on the coals, but could eat 
very little. I walked about, but was very weak, 
and withal very sad and heavy-hearted in the sense 
of my miserable condition, dreading the return of 
my distemper the next day. At night, I made my 
supper of three of the turtle’s eggs, which I roasted 
in the ashes, and ate, as we call it, in the shell : 
and this was the first bit of meat I had ever asked 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


13 * 

God’s blessing to, as I could remember, in my 
whole life. After I had eaten, I tried to walk, but 
found myself so weak that I could hardly carry 
the gun (for I never went out without that) ; so 
I went but a little way, and sat down upon the 
ground, looking out upon the sea, which was just 
before me, and very calm and smooth. As I sat 
here, some such thoughts as these occurred to me : 
“ What is this earth and sea, of which I have seen 
so much ? Whence is it produced? And what am 
I, and all the other creatures, wild and tame, hu- 
man and brutal ? Whence are we ? Surely, we are 
all made by some secret power, who formed the 
earth and sea, the air and sky. And who is that ? ” 
Then it followed most naturally, “ It is God that 
has made all. Well, but then,” it came on, cc if 
God has made all these things, he guides and gov- 
erns them all, and all things that concern them ; 
for the power that could make all things must cer- 
tainly have power to guide and direct them ; if so, 
nothing can happen in the great circuit of his works, 
either without his knowledge or appointment. And 
if nothing happens without his knowledge, he 
knows that I am here, and am in this dreadful 
condition : and if nothing happens without his 
appointment, he has appointed all this to befal me.” 
Nothing occurred to my thought, to contradict 
any of these conclusions ; and therefore it rested 
upon me with the greatest force, that it must needs 
be that God had appointed all this to befal me ; 
that I was brought to this miserable circumstance 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


132 

by his direction, he having the sole power, not of 
me only, but of everything that happens in the 
world. Immediately it followed, “ Why has God 
done this to me ? What have I done to be thus 
used ? ” My conscience presently checked me in 
that inquiry, as if I had blasphemed : and me- 
thought it spoke to me like a voice, “Wretch! 
dost thou ask what thou hast done? Look back 
upon a dreadful mis-spent life, and ask thyself 
what thou hast not done ? Ask, why is it that thou 
wert not long ago destroyed ? Why wert thou not 
drowned in Yarmouth Roads; killed in the fight 
when the ship was taken by the Sallee man-of- 
war ; devoured by the wild beasts on the coast of 
Africa ; or drowned here , when all the crew per- 
ished but thyself? Dost thou ask what thou hast 
done ? ” I was struck dumb with these reflections, 
as one astonished, and had not a word to say, no, 
not to answer to myself; and, rising up pensive 
and sad, walked back to my retreat, and went over 
my wall, as if I had been going to bed : but my 
thoughts were sadly disturbed, and I had no in- 
clination to sleep ; so I sat down in the chair, and 
lighted my lamp, for it began to be dark. Now, 
as the apprehension of the return of my distem- 
per terrified me very much, it occurred to my 
thought that the Brazilians take no physic but 
their tobacco for almost all distempers ; and I had 
a piece of a roll of tobacco in one of the chests, 
which was quite cured, and some also that was 
green, and not quite cured. 



SO WEAK THAT I COULD HARDLY CARRY THE GUN 






































































































































































































































































ROBINSON CRUSOE 


*33 

I went, directed by Heaven, no doubt: for in 
this chest I found a cure both for soul and body. 
I opened the chest, and found what I looked for, 
viz., the tobacco ; and as the few books I had 
saved lay there too, I took out one of the Bibles 
which I mentioned before, and which, to this time, 
I had not found leisure or so much as inclination 
to look into. I say, I took it out, and brought 
both that and the tobacco with me to the table. 
What use to make of the tobacco I knew not, as 
to my distemper, nor whether it was good for it 
or not ; but I tried several experiments with it, as 
if I was resolved it should hit one way or other. 
I first took a piece of a leaf, and chewed it in my 
mouth ; which, indeed, at first, almost stupified 
my brain, the tobacco being green and strong, and 
such as I had not been much used to. Then I 
took some and steeped it an hour or two in some 
rum, and resolved to take a dose of it when I lay 
down : and lastly, I burnt some upon a pan of 
coals, and held my nose close over the smoke of 
it as long as I could bear it, as well for the heat 
as almost for suffocation. In the interval of this 
operation I took up the Bible and began to read ; 
but my head was too much disturbed by the to- 
bacco to bear reading, at least at that time ; only, 
having opened the book casually, the first words 
that occurred to me were these : “ Call on me in 
the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou 
shalt glorify me.” These words were very apt to 
my case ; and made some impression upon my 


i 3 4 THE ADVENTURES OF 

thoughts at the time of reading them, though not 
so much as they did afterwards ; for, as for being 
delivered , the word had no sound, as I may say, 
to me; the thing was so remote, so impossible 
in my apprehension of things, that, as the child- 
ren of Israel said when they were promised flesh 
to eat, “ Can God spread a table in the wilder- 
ness ? ” so I began to say, “ Can even God himself 
deliver me from this place ? ” And as it was not 
for many years that any hopes appeared, this pre- 
vailed very often upon my thoughts : but, how- 
ever, the words made a great impression upon 
me, and I mused upon them very often. It now 
grew late : and the tobacco had, as I said, dozed 
my head so much that I inclined to sleep; so I 
left my lamp burning in the cave, lest I should 
want anything in the night, and went to bed. But 
before I lay down, I did what I never had done 
in all my life : I kneeled down, and prayed to 
God to fulfil the promise to me, that if I called 
upon him in the day of trouble he would deliver 
me. After my broken and imperfect prayer was 
over, I drank the rum in which I had steeped 
the tobacco ; which was so strong and rank of the 
tobacco that indeed I could scarce get it down ; 
immediately upon this I went to bed. I found 
presently the rum flew up into my head violently ; 
but I fell into a sound sleep, and waked no more 
till, by the sun, it must necessarily be near three 
o’clock in the afternoon the next day ; nay, to this 
hour, I am partly of opinion that I slept all the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


*35 

next day and night, and till almost three the day 
after ; for otherwise, I know not how I should 
lose a day out of my reckoning in the days of the 
week, as it appeared, some years after, I had done ; 
for if I had lost it by crossing and recrossing the 
Line, I should have lost more than one day ; but 
certainly I lost a day in my account, and never 
knew which way. Be that, however, one way or 
the other, when I awaked I found myself exceed- 
ingly refreshed, and my spirits lively and cheerful : 
when I got up I was stronger than I was the day 
before, and my stomach better, for I was hungry; 
and, in short, I had no fit the next day, but contin- 
ued much altered for the better. This was the 29th. 

The 30th was my well day, of course ; and I went 
abroad with my gun, but did not care to travel 
too far. I killed a sea fowl or two, something like a 
brand goose, and brought them home ; but was not 
very forward to eat them; so I ate some more of 
the turtle’s eggs, which were very good. This even- 
ing I renewed the medicine, which I had supposed 
did me good the day before, viz. the tobacco steeped 
in rum ; only I did not take so much as before, nor 
did I chew any of the leaf, or hold my head over 
the smoke: however, I was not so well the next 
day, which was the first of July, as I hoped I should 
have been ; for I had a little of the cold fit, but it 
was not much. 

July 2 . I renewed the medicine all the three 
ways, and dosed myself with it as at first, and 
doubled the quantity which I drank. 


1 36 THE ADVENTURES OF 

July 3. I missed the fit for good and all, though 
I did not recover my full strength for some weeks 
after. While I was thus gathering strength, my 
thoughts ran exceedingly upon this Scripture, “ I 
will deliver thee”; and the impossibility of my de- 
liverance lay much upon my mind, in bar of my 
ever expecting it. But as I was discouraging myself 
with such thoughts, it occurred to my mind that I 
pored so much upon my deliverance from the main 
affliction that I disregarded the deliverance I had 
received ; and I was, as it were, made to ask myself 
such questions as these, viz., “ Have I not been de- 
livered, and wonderfully, too, from sickness ; from 
the most distressed condition that could be and 
that was so frightful to me ? and what notice have 
I taken of it? Have I done my part? God has de- 
livered me, but I have not glorified him; that is 
to say, I have not owned and been thankful for 
that as a deliverance ; and how can I expect a greater 
deliverance?” This touched my heart very much ; 
and immediately I knelt down, and gave God 
thanks aloud for my recovery from my sickness. 

July 4. In the morning I took the Bible, and 
beginning at the New Testament, I began\seri- 
ously to read it; and imposed upon myself to read 
a while every morning and every night ; not bind- 
ing myself to the number of chapters, but as long 
as my thoughts should engage me. It was not long 
after I set seriously to this work that I found my 
heart more deeply and sincerely affected with the 
wickedness of my past life. The impression of my 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


*37 

dream revived; and the words, “All these things 
have not brought thee to repentance,” ran seri- 
ously in my thoughts. I was earnestly begging of 
God to give me repentance, when it happened pro- 
videntially, the very same day, that, reading the 
Scripture, I came to these words, “He is exalted 
a Prince and a Saviour; to give repentance and to 
give remission.” I threw down the book ; and with 
my heart as well as my hands lifted up to heaven, 
in a kind of ecstasy of joy, I cried out aloud, 
“Jesus, thou son of David! Jesus, thou exalted 
Prince and Saviour ! give me repentance ! ” This 
was the first time in all my life I could say, in the 
true sense of the words, that I prayed ; for now 
I prayed with a sense of my condition, and with 
a true Scripture view of hope, founded on the en- 
couragement of the word of God : and from this 
time, I may say, I began to have hope that God 
would hear me. 

'Now I began to construe the words mentioned 
above, “Call on me, and I will deliver thee,” in 
a different sense from what I had ever done before; 
for then I had no notion of anything being called 
deliverance but my being delivered from the cap- 
tivity I was in: for though 1 was indeed at large 
in the place, yet the island was certainly a prison 
to me, and that in the worst sense in the world. 
But now I learned to take it in another sense: now 
I looked back upon my past life with such horror, 
and my sins appeared so dreadful, that my soul 
sought nothing of God but deliverance from the 


138 THE ADVENTURES OF 

load of guilt that bore down all my comfort. As 
for my solitary life, it was nothing; I did not so 
much as pray to be delivered from it, or think of 
it; it was all of no consideration, in comparison 
with this. And I add this part here, to hint to 
whoever shall read it that, whenever they come 
to a true sense of things, they will find deliverance 
from sin a much greater blessing than deliver- 
ance from affliction. 

t My condition began now to be, though not less 
miserable as to my way of living, yet much easier 
to my mind; and my thoughts being directed, by 
constantly reading the Scripture and praying to 
God, to things of a higher nature, I had a great 
deal of comfort within, which, till now, I knew 
nothing of; also, as my health and strength re- 
turned, I bestirred me to furnish myself with every- 
thing that I wanted, and make my way of living 
as regular as I could. 

From the 4th of July to the 14th, I was chiefly 
employed in walking about with my gun in my 
hand, a little and a little at a time, as a man that 
was gathering up his strength after a fit of sickness : 
for it is hardly to be imagined how low I was, and 
to what weakness I was reduced. The application 
which I made use of was prefectly new, and per- 
haps what had never cured an ague before ; neither 
can I recommend it to any one to practise, by this 
experiment: and though it did carry off the fit, yet 
it rather contributed to weakening me; for I had 
frequent convulsions in my nerves and limbs for 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


139 

some time. I learned from it also this, in particu- 
lar; that being abroad in the rainy season was the 
most pernicious thing to my health that could be, 
especially in those rains which came attended with 
storms and hurricanes of wind; for as the rain 
which came in the dry season was almost always 
accompanied with such storms, so I found that 
this rain was much more dangerous than the rain 
which fell in September and October. 

I had now been in this unhappy island above 
ten months; all possibility of deliverance from this 
condition seemed to be entirely taken from me, 
and I firmly believed that no human shape had ever 
set foot upon that place. Having secured my hab- 
itation, as I thought, fully to my mind, I had a 
great desire to make a more perfect discovery of 
the island, and to see what other productions I 
might find, which I yet knew nothing of. 

It was on the 15th of July that I began to take 
a more particular survey of the island itself. I went 
up the creek first, where, as I hinted, I brought my 
rafts on shore. I found, after I came about two 
miles up, that the tide did not flow any higher, and 
that it was no more than a little brook of running 
water, very fresh and good: but this being the dry 
season, there was hardly any water in some parts 
of it; at least, not any stream. On the banks of 
this brook I found many pleasant savannahs or 
meadows, plain, smooth, and covered with grass; 
and on the rising parts of them, next to the higher 
grounds (where the water, as it might be supposed, 


140 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


never overflowed), I found a great deal of tobacco, 
green, and growing to a very great and strong stalk ; 
and there were divers other plants, which I had 
no knowledge of or understanding about, and that 
might, perhaps, have virtues of their own, which I 
could not find out. I searched for the cassava root, 
which the Indians, in all that climate, make their 
bread of; but I could find none. I saw large plants 
of aloes, but did not understand them. I saw sev- 
eral sugar-canes, but wild, and, for want of cultiva- 
tion, imperfect. I contented myself with these dis- 
coveries for this time, and came back, musing with 
myself what course I might take to know the virtue 
and goodness of any of the fruits or plants which 
I should discover; but could bring it to no con- 
clusion; for, in short, I had made so little observa- 
tion while I was in the Brazils that I knew little 
of the plants in the field; at least, very little that 
might serve me to any purpose now in my distress. 

The next day, the 16th, I went up the same way 
again ; and after going something farther than I had 
gone the day before, I found the brook and the 
savannahs begin to cease, and the country become 
more woody than before. In this part I found dif- 
ferent fruits; and particularly I found melons upon 
the ground in great abundance, and grapes upon 
the trees: the vines, indeed, had spread over the 
trees, and the clusters of grapes were now just in 
their prime, very ripe and rich. This was a sur- 
prising discovery, and I was exceedingly glad of 
them, but I was warned by my experience to eat 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


141 

sparingly of them, remembering that when I was 
ashore in Barbary, the eating of grapes killed sev- 
eral of our Englishmen, who were slaves there, by 
throwing them into fluxes and fevers. I found, 
however, an excellent use for these grapes ; and that 
was to cure or dry them in the sun, and keep them 
as dried grapes or raisins are kept; which I thought 
would be (as indeed they were) as wholesome and 
as agreeable to eat when no grapes were to be had. 
\ I spent all that evening there, and went not back 
to my habitation ; which, by the way, was the first 
night, as I might say, I had lain from home. At 
night, I took my first contrivance, and got up into 
a tree, where I slept well; and the next morning 
proceeded on my discovery, travelling near four 
miles, as I might judge by the length of the valley: 
keeping still due north, with a ridge of hills on the 
south and north sides of me. At the end of this 
march I came to an opening, where the country 
seemed to descend to the west; and a little spring 
of fresh water, which issued out at the side of the 
hill by me, ran the other way, that is, due east ; and 
the country appeared so fresh, so green, so flour- 
ishing, everything being in a constant verdure, or 
flourish of spring, that it looked like a planted 
garden. I descended a little on the side of that 
delicious vale, surveying it with a secret kind 
of pleasure (though mixed with other afflicting 
thoughts), to think that this was all my own; that 
I was king and lord of all this country indefeas- 
ibly, and had a right of possession ; and, if I could 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


142 

convey it, I might have it in inheritance as com- 
pletely as any lord of a manor in England. I saw 
here abundance of cocoa trees, and orange, lemon, 
and citron trees, but all wild, and very few bearing 
any fruit; at least not then. However, the green 
limes that I gathered were not only pleasant to 
eat, but very wholesome; and I mixed their juice 
afterwards with water, which made it very whole- 
some, and very cool and refreshing. I found now 
I had business enough, to gather and carry home; 
and I resolved to lay up a store, as well of grapes 
as limes and lemons, to furnish myself for the wet 
season, which I knew was approaching. In order 
to this, I gathered a great heap of grapes in one 
place, a lesser heap in another place ; and a great 
parcel of limes and lemons in another place; and 
taking a few of each with me, I travelled home- 
ward, and resolved to come again and bring a bag 
or sack, or what I could make, to carry the rest 
home. Accordingly, having spent three days in 
this journey, I came home (so I must now call my 
tent and my cave) ; but before I got thither, the 
grapes were spoiled ; the richness of the fruits, and 
the weight of the juice, having broken and bruised 
them, they were good for little or nothing; as to 
the limes, they were good, but I could bring only 
a few. 

The next day being the 19th, I went back, hav- 
ing made me two small bags to bring home my 
harvest; but I was surprised, when, coming to my 
heap of grapes, which were so rich and fine when 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


H3 

I gathered them, I found them all spread about, 
trod to pieces, and dragged about, some here, some 
there, and abundance eaten and devoured. By this 
I concluded there were some wild creatures there- 
abouts which had done this, but what they were 
I knew not. However, as I found there was no lay- 
ing them up in heaps, and no carrying them away 
in a sack, but that one way they would be de- 
stroyed, and the other way they would be crushed 
with their own weight, I took another course: I 
then gathered a large quantity of the grapes, and 
hung them upon the out-branches of the trees, 
that they might cure and dry in the sun; and as 
for the limes and lemons, I carried as many back 
as I could well stand under. 

' When I came home from this journey, I con- 
templated with great pleasure the fruitfulness of 
that valley, and the pleasantness of the situation ; 
the security from storms on that side; the water 
and the wood ; and concluded that I had pitched 
upon a place to fix my abode in which was by far 
the worst part of the country. Upon the whole, I 
began to consider of removing my habitation, and 
to look out for a place equally safe as where I was 
now situate; if possible, in that pleasant fruitful 
part of the island. 

This thought ran long in my head ; and I was 
exceeding fond of it for some time, the pleasantness 
of the place tempting me; but when I came to a 
nearer view of it, I considered that I was now by 
the seaside, where it was at least possible that some- 


i 4 4 THE ADVENTURES OF 

thing might happen to my advantage, and, by the 
same ill-fate that brought me hither, might bring 
some other unhappy wretches to the same place; 
and though it was scarce probable that any such 
thing should ever happen, yet to enclose myself 
among the hills and woods in the centre of the 
island was to anticipate my bondage, and to render 
such an affair not only improbable but impossible; 
and that therefore I ought not by any means to 
remove. However, I was so enamoured of this 
place that I spent much of my time there for the 
whole remaining part of the month of July ; and 
though, upon second thoughts, I resolved, as above 
stated, not to remove, yet I built me a little kind 
of a bower, and surrounded it at a distance with 
a strong fence, being a double hedge, as nigh as 
I could reach, well staked, and filled between with 
brushwood. Here I lay very secure sometimes 
two or three nights together ; always going over 
it with a ladder, as before : so that I fancied now 
I had my country and my sea-coast house. This 
work took me up till the beginning of August. 

I had but newly finished my fence, and began 
to enjoy my labour, when the rains came on, and 
made me stick close to my first habitation: for 
though I had made a tent like the other, with a 
piece of sail, and spread it very well, yet I had not 
the shelter of a hill to keep me from storms, nor 
a cave behind me to retreat into when the rains 
were extraordinary. 

About the beginning of August, as I said, I had 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


H5 

finished my bower, and began to enjoy myself. 
The 3d of August I found the grapes I had hung 
up were perfectly dried, and indeed were excellent 
good raisins of the sun; so I began to take them 
down from the trees; and it was very happy that 
I did so, as the rains which followed would have 
spoiled them, and I should have lost the best part 
of my winter food ; for I had above two hundred 
large bunches of them. No sooner had I taken 
them all down, and carried most of them home to 
my cave, but it began to rain ; and from hence, 
which was the 14th of August, it rained, more or 
less, every day till the middle of October; and 
sometimes so violently that I could not stir out 
of my cave for several days. 

In this season, I was much surprised with the 
increase of my family. I had been concerned for 
the loss of one of my cats, who ran away from me, 
or, as I thought, had been dead ; and I heard no 
more of her, till, to my astonishment, she came 
home with three kittens. This was the more strange 
to me, because, about the end of August, though 
I had killed a wild cat, as I called it, with my gun, 
yet I thought it was quite a different kind from our 
European cats ; yet the young cats were the same 
kind of house-breed as the old one ; and both of 
my cats being females, I thought it very strange. 
But from these three I afterwards came to be so 
pestered with cats that I was forced to kill them 
like vermin, or wild beasts, and to drive them from 
my house as much as possible. 


1 46 THE ADVENTURES OF 

From the 14th of August to the 26th, incessant 
rain, so that I could not stir, and was now very 
careful not to be much wet. In this confinement, 
I began to be straitened for food ; but venturing 
out twice, I one day killed a goat, and the last day, 
which was the 24th, found a very large tortoise, 
which was a treat to me. My food was now reg- 
ulated thus : 1 ate a bunch of raisins for my break- 
fast, a piece of the goat’s flesh, or of the turtle, 
broiled, for my dinner (for, to my great misfortune, 
I had no vessel to boil or stew anything), and two 
or three of the turtle’s eggs for my supper. 

During this confinement in my cover from the 
rain, I worked daily two or three hours at enlarg- 
ing my cave ; and by degrees worked it on towards 
one side, till I came to the outside of the hill, and 
made a door, or way out, which came beyond my 
fence or wall ; and so I came in and out this 
way. But I was not perfectly easy at lying so 
open : for as I had managed myself before, I was 
in a perfect enclosure ; whereas, now, I thought 
I lay exposed ; and yet I could not perceive that 
there was any living thing to fear, the biggest 
creature that I had as yet seen upon the island 
being a goat. 

September 30. I was now come to the unhappy 
anniversary of my landing : I cast up the notches 
on my post, and found I had been on shore three 
hundred and sixty-five days. I kept this day as a 
solemn fast ! setting it apart for religious exercise, 
prostrating myself on the ground with the most 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


H7 

serious humiliation, confessing my sins to God, 
acknowledging his righteous judgments upon me, 
and praying to him to have mercy on me through 
Jesus Christ; and having not tasted the least 
refreshment for twelve hours, even till the going 
down of the sun, I then ate a biscuit and a bunch 
of grapes, and went to bed, finishing the day as I 
began it. I had all this time observed no sabbath- 
day ; for as at first I had no sense of religion upon 
my mind, I had, after some time, omitted to dis- 
tinguish the weeks, by making a longer notch than 
ordinary for the sabbath-day, and so did not really 
know what any of the days were : but now having 
cast up the days, as above, I found I had been 
there a year ; so I divided it into weeks, and set 
apart every seventh day for a sabbath ; though I 
found, at the end of my account, I had lost a day 
or two in my reckoning. A little after this, my ink 
beginning to fail me, I contented myself to use it 
more sparingly ; and to write down only the most 
remarkable events of my life, without continuing 
a daily memorandum of other things. 

The rainy season and the dty season began 
now to appear regular to me, and I learned to 
divide them so as to provide for them accordingly ; 
but I bought all my experience before I had it; 
and what I am going to relate was one of the 
most discouraging experiments that I had made 
at all. 

vl have mentioned that I had saved a few ears 
of barley and rice, which I had so surprisingly 


148 THE ADVENTURES OF 

found sprung up, as I thought, of themselves. I 
believe there were about thirty stalks of rice and 
about twenty of barley ; and now I thought it a 
proper time to sow it after the rains; the sun being 
in its southern position, going from me. Accord- 
ingly I dug a piece of ground, as well as I could, 
with my wooden spade, and dividing it into two 
parts, I sowed my grain ; but as I was sowing, it 
casually occurred to my thoughts that I would not 
sow it all at first, because I did not know when 
was the proper time for it; so I sowed about two 
thirds of the seed, leaving about a handful of each: 
and it was a great comfort to me afterwards that 
I did so, for not one grain of what I sowed this 
time came to anything ; for the dry month follow- 
ing, and the earth having thus had no rain after 
the seed was sown, it had no moisture to assist its 
growth, and never came up at all till the wet sea- 
son had come again, and then it grew as if it had 
been but newly sown. Finding my first seed did 
not grow, which I easily imagined was from the 
drought, I sought for a moister piece of ground 
to make another trial in ; and I dug up a piece of 
ground near my new bower, and sowed the rest 
of my seed in February, a little before the vernal 
equinox. This, having the rainy months of March 
and April to water it, sprung up very pleasantly, 
and yielded a very good crop ; but having only 
part of the seed left, and not daring to sow all that 
I had, I got but a small quantity at last, my whole 
crop not amounting to above half a peck of each 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


149 

kind. But by this experiment I was made master 
of my business, and knew exactly when was the 
proper time to sow ; and that I might expect two 
seed-times, and two harvests, every year. 

While this corn was growing, I made a little dis- 
covery, which was of use to me afterwards. As 
soon as the rains were over, and the weather be- 
gan to settle, which was about the month of Novem- 
ber, I made a visit up the country to my bower, 
where, though I had not been for some months, 
yet I found all things just as I had left them. The 
circle or double hedge that I had made was not 
only firm and entire, but the stakes, which I had 
cut out of some trees that grew thereabouts, were 
all shot out and grown with long branches, as much 
as a willow-tree usually shoots the first year after 
lopping its head; but I could not tell what tree to 
call it that these stakes were cut from. I was sur- 
prised, and yet very well pleased, to see the young 
trees grow; and I pruned them, and led them to 
grow as much alike as I could ; and it is scarce cred- 
ible how beautiful a figure they grew into in three 
years : so that, though the hedge made a circle of 
about twenty-five yards in diameter, yet the trees, 
for such I might now call them, soon covered it, 
and it was a complete shade, sufficient to lodge 
under all the dry season. This made me resolve 
to cut some more stakes, and make me a hedge 
like this, in a semicircle round my wall (I mean 
that of my first dwelling), which I did; and placing 
the trees or stakes in a double row, at about eight 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


150 

yards distance from my first fence, they grew pre- 
sently ; and were at first a fine cover to my habita- 
tion, and afterwards served for a defence also, as 
I shall observe in its order. 



1 found now that the seasons of the year might 
generally be divided, not into summer and win- 
ter as in Europe, but into the rainy seasons and the 
dry seasons, which were generally thus: from the 
middle of February to the middle of April, rainy, 
the sun being then on or near the equinox; from 
the middle of April till the middle of August, dry, 
the sun being then north of the Line; from the 
middle of August till the middle of October, rainy, 
the sun being then come back to the Line ; from 
the middle of October till the middle of February, 
dry, the sun being then to the south of the Line. 

The rainy seasons held sometimes longer and 
sometimes shorter, as the winds happened to blow; 
but this was the general observation I made. After 
I had found, by experience, the ill consequences of 
being abroad in the rain, I took care to furnish 
myself with provisions beforehand, that I might not 
be obliged to go out; and I sat within doors as 
much as possible during the wet months. This 
time I found much employment, and very suitable 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


152 

also to the time ; for I found great occasion for many 
things which I had no way to furnish myself with 
but by hard labour and constant application ; par- 
ticularly, I tried many ways to make myself a 
basket; but all the twigs I could get for the pur- 
pose proved so brittle that they would do nothing. 
It proved of excellent advantage to me now that, 
when I was a boy, I used to take a great delight 
in standing at a basket-maker’s in the town where 
my father lived, to see them make their wicker- 
ware; and being, as boys usually are, very officious 
to help, and a great observer of the manner how 
they worked those things, and sometimes lending 
a hand, I had by these means full knowledge of the 
methods of it, so that I wanted nothing but the 
materials, when it came into my mind that the 
twigs of that tree from whence I cut my stakes that 
grew might possibly be as tough as the sallows, wil- 
lows, and osiers, in England ; and I resolved to try. 
Accordingly, the next day, I went to my country- 
house, as I calledit ; and cutting some of the smaller 
twigs, I found them to my purpose as much as I 
could desire : whereupon I came the next time pre- 
pared with a hatchet to cut down a quantity, which 
I soon found, for there was great plenty of them. 
These I set up to dry within my circle or hedge: 
and when they were fit for use, I carried them to 
my cave: and here, during the next season, I em- 
ployed myself in making, as well as I could, several 
baskets ; both to carry earth, or to carry or lay up 
anything as I had occasion for. Though I did not 

\ 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


l S3 

finish them very handsomely, yet I made them 
sufficiently serviceable for my purpose : and thus, 
afterwards, I took care never to be without them ; 
and as my wicker-ware decayed, I made more, es- 
pecially strong deep baskets, to place my corn in, 
instead of sacks, when I should come to have any 
quantity of it. Having mastered this difficulty, and 
employed a world of time about it, I bestirred 
myself to see, if possible, how to supply two other 
wants. I had no vessel to hold anything that was 
liquid, except two runlets which were almost full of 
rum, and some glass bottles, some of the common 
size, and others (which were case-bottles) square, 
for the holding of waters, spirits, etc. I had not so 
much as a pot to boil anything, except a great ket- 
tle which I saved out of the ship, and which was too 
big for such use as I desired it, viz., to make broth, 
and stew a bit of meat by itself. The second thing 
I would fain have had was a tobacco-pipe: but it 
was impossible for me to make one; however, I 
found a contrivance for that too at last. I employed 
myself in planting my second row of stakes or piles, 
and also in this wicker-working all the summer or 
dry season, when another business took me up more 
time than it could be imagined I could spare. 

\ I mentioned before that I had a great mind to 
see the whole island, and that I had travelled up 
the brook, and so on to where I had built my 
bower, and where I had an opening quite to the 
sea, on the other side of the island. I now resolved 
to travel quite across to the sea-shore, on that side ; 


i 5 4 THE ADVENTURES OF 

so taking my gun, a hatchet, and my dog, and a 
larger quantity of powder and shot than usual, with 
two biscuit-cakes, and a great bunch of raisins in 
my pouch, for my store, I began my journey. 
When I had passed the vale where my bower stood, 
as above, I came within view of the sea, to the 
west ; and it being a very clear day, I fairly de- 
scried land, whether an island or continent I could 
not tell ; but it lay very high, extending from W. 
to WSW. at a very great distance ; by my guess, it 
could not be less than fifteen or twenty leagues off. 

I could not tell what part of the world this might 
be, otherwise than that I knew it must be part of 
America; and, as I concluded by all my observa- 
tions, must be near the Spanish dominions, and 
perhaps was all inhabited by savages, where, if I 
should have landed, I had been in a worse condi- 
tion than I was now. I therefore acquiesced in the 
dispositions of Providence, which I began now to 
own and to believe ordered everything for the best; 
I say, I quieted my mind with this, and left off 
afflicting myself with fruitless wishes of being there. 
Besides, after some pause upon this affair, I con- 
sidered that if this land was the Spanish coast, I 
should certainly, one time or other, see some ves- 
sel pass or repass one way or other; but if not, 
then it was the savage coast between the Spanish 
country and the Brazils, whose inhabitants are in- 
deed the worst of savages; for they are cannibals, 
or men-eaters, and fail not to murder and devour 
all human beings that fall into their hands. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 155 

With these considerations, walking very leisurely 
forward, I found this side of the island, where I 
now was, much pleasanter than mine; the open or 
savannah fields sweetly adorned with flowers and 
grass, and full of very fine woods. I saw abund- 
ance of parrots ; and fain would have caught one, 
if possible, to have kept it to be tame, and taught 
it to speak to me. I did, after taking some pains, 
catch a young parrot; for I knocked it down with 
a stick, and, having recovered it, I brought it home ; 
but it was some years before I could make him 
speak; however, at last I taught him to call me 
by my name very familiarly. But the accident that 
followed, though it be a trifle, will be very divert- 
ing in its place. 

I was exceedingly amused with this journey. I 
found in the low grounds hares, as I thought them 
to be, and foxes: but they differed greatly from all 
the other kinds I had met with ; nor could I satisfy 
myself to eat them, though I killed several. But 
I had no need to be venturous, for I had no want 
of food, and of that which was very good too; 
especially these three sorts, viz., goats, pigeons, and 
turtle or tortoise. With these, added to my grapes, 
Leadenhall-market could not have furnished a 
table better than I, in proportion to the company; 
and though my case was deplorable enough, yet 
I had great cause for thankfulness, as I was not 
driven to any extremities for food, but had rather 
plenty, even to dainties. 

I never travelled on this journey above two miles 


156 THE ADVENTURES OF 

outright in a day, or thereabout, but I took so 
many turns and returns to see what discoveries I 
could make that I came weary enough to the place 
where I resolved to sit down for the night; and 
then I either reposed myself in a tree, or surround- 
ed myself with a row of stakes, set upright in the 
ground, either from one tree to another, or so as 
no wild creature could come at me without waking 
me. 

As soon as I came to the sea-shore, I was sur- 
prised to see that I had taken up my lot on the 
worst side of the island, for here indeed the shore 
was covered with innumerable turtles, whereas, on 
the other side, I had found but three in a year 
and a half. Here was also an infinite number of 
fowls of many kinds ; some of which I had seen, 
and some of which I had not seen before, and many 
of them very good meat ; but such as I knew not the 
names of, except those called penguins. 

I could have shot as many as I pleased, but was 
very sparing of my powder and shot; and there- 
fore had more mind to kill a she-goat, if I could, 
which I could better feed on. But, though there 
were many goats here, more than on my side the 
island, yet it was with much more difficulty that 
I could come near them, the country being flat 
and even, and they saw me much sooner than when 
I was upon a hill. 

I confess this side of the country was much 
pleasanter than mine ; yet I had not the least in- 
clination to remove ; for as I was fixed in my hab- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


1 S7 

itation, it became natural to me, and I seemed all 
the while I was here to be as it were upon a jour- 
ney, and from home. However, I travelled along 
the sea-shore towards the east, I suppose about 
twelve miles ; and then setting up a great pole upon 
the shore for a mark, I concluded I would go home 
again ; and that the next journey I took should be 
on the other side of the island, east from my dwell- 
ing, and so round till I came to my post again : of 
which in its place. 

XI took another way to come back than that I 
went, thinking I could easily keep so much of the 
island in my view that I could not miss my first 
dwelling by viewing the country ; but I found my- 
self mistaken ; for being come about two or three 
miles, I found myself descended into a very large 
valley, but so surrounded with hills, and those 
hills covered with wood, that I could not see which 
was my way by any direction but that of the sun, 
nor even then, unless I knew very well the posi- 
tion of the sun at that time of the day. And it hap- 
pened, to my farther misfortune, that the weather 
proved hazy for three or four days while I was in 
this valley; and not being able to see the sun, I 
wandered about very uncomfortable, and at last 
was obliged to find out the sea-side, look for my 
post, and come back the same way I went ; and 
then by easy journeys I turned homeward, the 
weather being exceeding hot, and my gun, ammuni- 
tion, hatchet, and other things very heavy. 



I n this journey, my dog surprised a young kid, 
and seized upon it ; and running to take hold 
of it, I caught it, and saved it alive from the dog. 
I had a great mind to bring it home if I could ; 
for I had often been musing whether it might not 
be possible to get a kid or two, and so raise a breed 
of tame goats, which might supply me when my 
powder and shot should be all spent. I made a 
collar for this little creature, and with a string 
which I had made of some rope-yarn, which I al- 
ways carried about me, I led him along, though 
with some difficulty, till I came to my bower, and 
there 1 enclosed and left him ; for I was very im- 
patient to be at home, from whence I had been 
absent above a month. 

I cannot express what a satisfaction it was to me 
to come into my old hutch, and lie down in my 
hammock bed. This little wandering journey, 
without a settled place of abode, had been so un- 
pleasant to me that my own house, as I called it to 
myself, was a perfect settlement to me, compared 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


1 S9 

to that ; and it rendered everything about me so 
comfortable that I resolved I would never go 
a great way from it again while it should be my lot 
to stay on the island. 

I reposed myself here a week, to rest and regale 
myself after my long journey : during which, most 
of the time was taken up in the weighty affair of 
making a cage for my Poll, who began now to be 
more domestic, and to be mighty well acquainted 
with me. Then I began to think of the poor kid 
which I had penned within my little circle, and 
resolved to fetch it home, or give it some food : 
accordingly I went, and found it where I left it (for 
indeed it could not get out), but was almost starved 
for want of food. I went and cut boughs of trees, 
and branches of such shrubs as I could find, and 
threw it over, and having fed it, I tied it as I did 
before, to lead it away ; but it was so tame with 
being hungry that I had no need to have tied it, 
for it followed me like a dog ; and as I continually 
fed it, the creature became so loving, so gentle, 
and so fond that it was from that time one of my 
domestics also, and would never leave me after- 
wards. 

\ The rainy season of the autumnal equinox was 
now come, and I kept the 30th of September in 
the same solemn manner as before, being the 
anniversary of my landing on the island; having 
now been there two years, and no more prospect 
of being delivered than the first day I came here. 
I spent the whole day in humble and thankful 


i6o THE ADVENTURES OF 

acknowledgments for the many wonderful mercies 
which my solitary condition was attended with, and 
without which it might have been infinitely more 
miserable. I gave humble and hearty thanks to 
God for having been pleased to discover to me that 
it was possible I might be more happy even in this 
solitary condition than I should have been in the 
enjoyment of society, and in all the pleasures of 
the world ; that he could fully make up to me the 
deficiencies of my solitary state, and the want of 
human society, by his presence, and the commun- 
ications of his grace to my soul ; supporting, com- 
forting, and encouraging me to depend upon his 
providence here, and to hope for his eternal pre- 
sence hereafter. 

It was now that I began sensibly to feel how 
much more happy the life I now led was, with 
all its miserable circumstances, than the wicked, 
cursed, abominable life I led all the past part of my 
days ; and now I changed both my sorrows and my 
joys : my very desires altered, my affections changed 
their gusts, and my delights were perfectly new 
from what they were at my first coming, or indeed 
for the two years past. Before, as I walked about, 
either on my hunting, or for viewing the country, 
the anguish of my soul at my condition would 
break out upon me on a sudden, and my very heart 
would die within me, to think of the woods, the 
mountains, the deserts I was in ; and how I was a 
prisoner, locked up with the eternal bars and bolts 
of the ocean, in an uninhabited wilderness, without 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 161 

redemption. In the midst of the greatest compos- 
ures of my mind, this would break out upon me 
like a storm, and make me wring my hands and 
weep like a child; sometimes it would take me in 
the middle of my work, and I would immediately 
sit down and sigh, and look upon the ground for 
an hour or two together. This was still worse to 
me ; but if I could burst into tears, or give vent 
to my feelings by words, it would go off ; and my 
grief, being exhausted, would abate. 

\ But now I began to exercise myself with new 
thoughts ; I daily read the word of God, and applied 
all the comforts of it to my present state. One 
morning, being very sad, I opened the Bible upon 
these words, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake 
thee” ; immediately it occurred that these words 
were to me; why else should they be directed in 
such a manner, just at the moment when I was 
mourning over my condition, as one forsaken of 
God and man? “Well then,” said I, “if God does 
not forsake me, of what ill consequence can it be, 
or what matters it, though the world should for- 
sake me ; seeing, on the other hand, if I had all the 
world, and should lose the favour and blessing of 
God, there would be no comparison in the loss?” 
\ From this moment I began to conclude in my 
mind that it was possible for me to be more happy 
in this forsaken, solitary condition, than it was 
probable I should ever have been in any other par- 
ticular state of the world; and with this thought I 
was going to give thanks to God for bringing me 


1 62 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


to this place. I know not what it was, but some- 
thing shocked my mind at that thought, and I 
durst not speak the words. “How canst thou be 
such a hypocrite,” said I, even audibly, “to pre- 
tend to be thankful for a condition, which, how- 
ever thou mayest endeavour to be contented with, 
thou wouldest rather pray heartily to be delivered 
from?” Here I stopped; but though I could not 
say I thanked God for being here, yet I sincerely 
gave thanks to God for opening my eyes, by what- 
ever afflicting providences, to see the former con- 
dition of my life, and to mourn for my wickedness, 
and repent. I never opened the Bible, or shut it, 
but my very soul within me blessed God for direct- 
ing my friend in England, without any order of 
mine, to pack it up among my goods ; and for as- 
sisting me afterwards to save it out of the wreck 
of the ship. 

Thus, and in this disposition of mind, I began 
my third year; and though I have not given the 
reader the trouble of so particular an account of 
my works this year as the first, yet in general it 
may be observed that I was very seldom idle; but 
having regularly divided my time, according to the 
several daily employments that were before me ; 
such as, first, my duty to God, and the reading 
the Scriptures, which I constantly set apart some 
time for, thrice every day ; secondly, going abroad 
with my gun for food, which generally took me up 
three hours every morning, when it did not rain ; 
thirdly, ordering, curing, preserving, and cooking 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


1 63 

what I had killed or catched for my supply ; these 
took up great part of the day; also it is to be con- 
sidered that in the middle of the day, when the 
sun was in the zenith, the violence of the heat was 
too great to stir out; so that about four hours in 
the evening was all the time I could be supposed 
to work in; with this exception, that sometimes I 
changed my hours of hunting and working, and 
went to work in the morning, and abroad with my 
gun in the afternoon. 

\ To this short time allowed for labour, I desire 
may be added the exceeding laboriousness of my 
work, the many hours which, for want of tools, 
want of help, and want of skill, everything I did 
took up out of my time : for example, I was full 
two-and-forty days making me a board for a long ^ 
shelf, which I wanted in my cave, whereas, two 
sawyers, with their tools and a sawpit, would 
have cut six of them out of the same tree in half 
a day. 

\My case was this : it was a large tree that was 
to be cut down, because my board was to be a 
broad one. <This tree I was three days cutting 
down, and two more in cutting off the boughs, and 
reducing it to a log or piece of timber. With in- 
expressible hacking and hewing, I reduced both 
the sides of it into chips, till it was light enough 
to move ; then I turned it, and made one side 
of it smooth and flat as a board, from end to end ; 
then, turning that side downward, cut the other 
side, till I brought the plank to be about three 


1 64 THE ADVENTURES OF 

inches thick, and smooth on both sides. Any one 
may judge the labour of my hands in such a piece 
of work ; but labour and patience carried me 
through that and many other things ; I only ob- 
serve this in particular, to show the reason why so 
much of my time went away with so little work, 
viz., that what might be a little, to be done with 
help and tools, was a vast labour, and required a 
prodigious time, to do alone, and by hand. Not- 
withstanding this, with patience and labour I went 
through many things ; and, indeed, everything that 
my circumstances made necessary for me to do, as 
will appear by what follows. 

I was now in the months of November and De- 
cember, expecting my crop of barley and rice. The 
ground I had manured or dug up for them was 
not great ; for, as I observed, my seed of each was 
not above the quantity of half a peck, having lost 
one whole crop by sowing in the dry season ; but 
now my crop promised very well ; when, on a 
sudden, I found I was in danger of losing it all 
again by enemies of several sorts, which it was 
scarce possible to keep from it ; as, first, the goats, 
and wild creatures which I called hares, who, tast- 
ing the sweetness of the blade, lay in it night and 
day, as soon as it came up, and ate it so close that 
it could get no time to shoot up into stalk. 

I saw no remedy for this but by making an 
enclosure about it with a hedge, which I did with 
a great deal of toil ; and the more, because it re- 
quired speed. However, as my arable land was 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 165 

but small, suited to my crop, I got it tolerably 
well fenced in about three weeks’ time ; and shoot- 
ing some of the creatures in the daytime, I set my 
dog to guard it in the night, tying him up to a 
stake at the gate, where he would stand and bark 
all night long ; so in a little time the enemies for- 
sook the place, and the corn grew very strong and 
well, and began to ripen apace. 

But as the beasts ruined me before, while my 
corn was in the blade, so the birds were as likely 
to ruin me now, when it was in the ear ; for going 
along by the place to see how it throve, I saw my 
little crop surrounded with fowls, I know not of 
how many sorts, who stood, as it were, watching 
till I should be gone. I immediately let fly among 
them (for I always had my gun with me) ; I had 
no sooner shot but there rose up a little cloud of 
fowls, which I had not seen at all, from among 
the corn itself. 

This touched me sensibly, for I foresaw that in 
a few days they would devour all my hopes ; that 
I should be starved, and never be able to raise a 
crop at all ; and what to do I could not tell : how- 
ever, I resolved not to lose my corn, if possible, 
though I should watch it night and day. In the 
first place, I went among it, to see what damage 
was already done, and found they had spoiled a 
good deal of it ; but that as it was yet too green 
for them, the loss was not so great but that the 
remainder was likely to be a good crop if it could 
be saved. 


1 66 THE ADVENTURES OF 

I staid by it to load my gun, and then coming 
away, I could easily see the thieves sitting upon 
all the trees about me, as if they only waited till 
I was gone away ; and the event proved it to be 
so; for as I walked off, as if gone, I was no sooner 
out of their sight than they dropped down, one by 
one, into the corn again. I was so provoked that 
I could not have patience to stay till more came 
on, knowing that every grain they ate now was, 
as it might be said, a peck loaf to me in the 
consequence ; so coming up to the hedge, I fired 
again, and killed three of them. This was what I 
wished for ; so I took them up, and served them 
as we serve notorious thieves in England, viz., 
hanged them in chains for a terror to others. It 
is impossible to imagine that this should have 
such an effect as it had ; for the fowls not only 
never came to the corn, but, in short, they forsook 
all that part of the island, and I could never see 
a bird near the place as long as my scarecrows 
hung there. This I was very glad of, you may be 
sure ; and about the latter end of December, which 
was our second harvest of the year, I reaped my 
corn. 

I was sadly put to it for a scythe or sickle to cut 
it down : and all I could do was to make one, as 
well as I could, out of one of the broadswords, or 
cutlasses, which I saved among the arms out of 
the ship. However, as my first crop was but small, 
I had no great difficulty to cut it down : in short, 
I reaped it my way, for I cut nothing off but the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 167 

ears, and carried it away in a great basket which 
I had made, and so rubbed it out with my hands; 
and at the end of all my harvesting, I found that 
out of my half peck of seed I had near two bushels 
of rice, and above two bushels and a half of bar- 
ley; that is to say, by my guess, for I had no 
measure. 

However, this was great encouragement to me; 
and I foresaw that, in time, it would please God 
to supply me with bread ; and yet here I was per- 
plexed again, for I neither knew how to grind, or 
make meal of my corn, or, indeed, how to clean it 
and part it ; nor, if made into meal, how to make 
bread of it ; and if how to make it, yet I knew not 
how to bake it. These things being added to my 
desire of having a good quantity for store, and to 
secure a constant supply, I resolved not to taste 
any of this crop, but to preserve it all for seed 
against the next season ; and, in the mean time, to 
employ all my study and hours of working to ac- 
complish this great work of providing myself with 
corn and bread. 

It might be truly said that now I worked for 
my bread. It is a little wonderful, and what I be- 
lieve few people have thought much upon, viz., the 
strange multitude of little things necessary in the 
providing, producing, curing, dressing, making, and 
finishing this one article of bread . I, that was re- 
duced to a mere state of nature, found this to my 
daily discouragement, and was made more sensible 
of it every hour, even after I had got the first hand- 


1 68 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


ful of seed-corn, which, as I have said, came up 
unexpectedly, and indeed to a surprise. 

First, I had no plough to turn up the earth, no 
spade or shovel to dig it: well, this I conquered, 
by making a wooden spade, as I observed before ; 
but this did my work in but a wooden manner; 
and though it cost me a great many days to make 
it, yet, for want of iron, it not only wore out the 
sooner, but made my work the harder, and per- 
formed it much worse. However, this I bore with, 
and was content to work it out with patience, and 
bear with the badness of the performance. When 
the corn was sown, I had no harrow, but was forced 
to go over it myself, and drag a great heavy bough 
of a tree over it, to scratch it, as it may be called, 
rather than rake or harrow it. When it was grow- 
ing and grown, I have observed already how many 
things I wanted to fence it, secure it, mow or reap 
it, cure and carry it home, thresh, part it from the 
chaff, and save it: then I wanted a mill to grind it, 
sieves to dress it, yeast and salt to make it into 
bread, and an oven to bake it ; and yet all these 
things I did without, as shall be observed; and the 
corn was an inestimable comfort and advantage to 
me. All this, as I said, made everything laborious 
and tedious to me, but that there was no help for; 
neither was my time so much loss to me, because, 
as I had divided it, a certain part of it was every 
day appointed to these works ; and as I resolved 
to use none of the corn for bread till I had a greater 
quantity by me, I had the next six months to apply 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 169 

myself wholly, by labour and invention, to furnish 
myself with utensils proper for the performing all 
the operations necessary for making corn fit for 
my use. 



B ut now I was to prepare more land ; for I had 
seed enough to sow above an acre of ground. 
Before I did this, I had a week’s work at least to 
make me a spade ; which, when it was done, was 
but a sorry one indeed, and very heavy, and re- 
quired double labour to work with it. However, I 
went through that, and sowed my seed in two large 
flat pieces of ground, as near my house as I could 
find them to my mind, and fenced them in with 
a good hedge, the stakes of which were all cut off 
that wood which I had set before, and knew it 
would grow ; so that, in one year’s time, I knew 
I should have a quick or living hedge that would 
want but little repair. This work took me up full 
three months ; because a great part of the time was 
in the wet season, when I could not go abroad. 
Within doors, that is, when it rained and I could 
not go out, I found employment on the following 
occasions ; always observing that, while I was at 
work, I diverted myself with talking to my parrot, 
and teaching him to speak ; and I quickly taught 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


I 7 I 

him to know his own name, and at last to speak 
it out pretty loud, cc Poll ” ; which was the first word 
I ever heard spoken in the island by any mouth 
but my own. This, therefore, was not my work, 
but an assistant to my work ; for now, as I said, I 
had a great employment upon my hands, as fol- 
lows : I had long studied, by some means or other, 
to make myself some earthen vessels, which indeed 
I wanted much, but knew not where to come at 
them ; however, considering the heat of the climate, 
I did not doubt but if I could find out any clay, 
I might botch up some such pot as might, being 
dried in the sun, be hard and strong enough to 
bear handling, and to hold anything that was dry, 
and required to be kept so ; and as this was neces- 
sary in the preparing corn, meal, etc., which was 
the thing I was upon, I resolved to make some as 
large as I could, and fit only to stand like jars, to 
hold what should be put into them. 

\It would make the reader pity me, or rather 
laugh at me, to tell how many awkward ways I 
took to raise this pastil; what odd, misshapen, ugly 
things I made ; how many of them fell in, and how 
many fell out, the clay not being stiff enough to 
bear its own weight ; how many cracked by the 
over-violent heat of the sun, being set out too 
hastily ; and how many fell in pieces with only re- 
moving, as well before as after they were dried ; 
and, in a word, how, after having laboured hard to 
find the clay, to dig it, to temper it, to bring it 
home and work it, I could not make above two 


iya THE ADVENTURES OF 

large earthen ugly things (I cannot call them jars) 
in about two months' labour. 

However, as the sun baked these two very dry 
and hard, I lifted them very gently up, and set them 
down again in two great wicker baskets, which I 
had made on purpose for them, that they might 
not break ; and as between the pot and the basket 
there was a little room to spare, I stuffed it full of 
the rice and barley straw; and these two pots being 
to stand always dry, I thought would hold my dry 
corn, and perhaps the meal, when the corn was 
bruised. 

Though I miscarried so much in my design for 
large pots, yet I made several smaller things with 
better success; such as little round pots, flat dishes, 
pitchers, and pipkins, and anything my hand turned 
to ; and the heat of the sun baked them very hard. 

\ But all this would not answer my end, which 
was to get an earthen pot to hold liquids and bear 
the fire, which none of these could do. It happened 
some time after, making a pretty large fire for cook- 
ing my meat, when I went to put it out after I had 
done with it, I found a broken piece of one of my 
earthenware vessels in the fire, burnt as hard as a 
stone, and red as a tile. I was agreeably surprised 
to see it, and said to myself that certainly they 
might be made to burn whole if they would burn 
broken. 

This set me to study how to order my fire so 
as to make it burn some pots. I had no notion of 
a kiln, such as the potters burn in, or of glazing 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 173 

them with lead, though I had some lead to do it 
with ; but I placed three large pipkins and two or 
three pots in a pile, one upon another, and placed 
my fire-wood all round it, with a great heap of 
embers under them. I plied the fire with fresh fuel 
round the outside, and upon the top, till I saw the 
pots in the inside red-hot quite through, and ob- 
served that they did not crack at all : when I saw 
them clear red, I let them stand in that heat about 
five or six hours, till I found one of them, though 
it did not crack, did melt or run ; for the sand which 
was mixed with the clay melted by the violence of 
the heat, and would have run into glass if I had 
gone on ; so I slacked my fire gradually till the 
pots began to abate of the red colour ; and watch- 
ing them all night, that I might not let the fire 
abate too fast, in the morning I had three very 
good, I will not say handsome, pipkins, and two 
other earthen pots, as hard burnt as could be de- 
sired ; and one of them perfectly glazed with the 
running of the sand. 

\ After this experiment, I need not say that I 
wanted no sort of earthenware for my use ; but 
I must needs say, as to the shapes of them, they 
were very indifferent, as any one may suppose, as 
I had no way of making them but as the children 
make dirt pies, or as a woman would make pies 
that never learned to raise paste. No joy at a thing 
of so mean a nature was ever equal to mine, when 
I found I had made an earthen pot that would bear 
the fire ; and I had hardly patience to stay till they 


174 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


were cold, before I set one on the fire again, with 
some water in it, to boil me some meat, which it 
did admirably well ; and with a piece of a kid I 
made some very good broth; though I wanted oat- 
meal and several other ingredients requisite to make 
it so good as I would have had it been. 

\ My next concern was to get a stone mortar to 
stamp or beat some corn in ; for as to the mill, 
there was no thought of arriving to that perfection 
of art with one pair of hands. To supply this want 
I was at a great loss ; for, of all trades in the world, 
I was as perfectly unqualified for a stonecutter as 
for any whatever, neither had I any tools to go 
about it with. I spent many a day to find out a 
great stone big enough to cut hollow, and make fit 
for a mortar ; but could find none at all, except 
what was in the solid rock, and which I had no way 
to dig or cut out ; nor, indeed, were the rocks in 
the island of sufficient hardness, as they were all 
of a sandy, crumbling stone, which would neither 
bear the weight of a heavy pestle nor would break 
the corn without filling it with sand ; so, after a 
great deal of time lost in searching for a stone, I 
gave it over, and resolved to look out a great block 
of hard wood, which I found indeed much easier; 
and getting one as big as I had strength to stir, I 
rounded it, and formed it on the outside with my 
axe and hatchet ; and then, with the help of the 
fire, and infinite labour, made a hollow place in it, 
as the Indians in Brazil make their canoes. After 
this, I made a great heavy pestle, or beater, of the 



BURNING THE EARTHERN POTS 















































































































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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


I 7S 

wood called iron-wood : and this I prepared and 
laid by against I had my next crop of corn, when I 
proposed to myself to grind, or rather pound, my 
corn into meal, to make my bread. 

V My next difficulty was to make a sieve, or search, 
to dress my meal, and to part it from the bran and 
the husk, without which I did not see it possible 
I could have any bread. This was a most difficult 
thing, even but to think on ; for I had nothing like 
the necessary thing to make it ; I mean fine thin 
canvas or stuff, to search the meal through. Here 
I was at a full stop for many months ; nor did I 
really know what to do : linen I had none left but 
what was mere rags ; I had goats’ hair, but neither 
knew how to weave it nor spin it ; and had I known 
how, here were no tools to work it with. All the 
remedy I found for this was at last recollecting I 
had, among the seamen’s clothes which were saved 
out of the ship, some neckcloths of calico or mus- 
lin ; with some pieces of these I made three small 
sieves, proper enough for the work, and thus I 
made shift for some years ; how I did afterwards, 
I shall show in its place. 

The baking part was the next thing to be con- 
sidered, and how I should make bread when I came 
to have corn: for, first, I had no yeast; as to that 
part, there was no supplying the want, so I did not 
concern myself much about it; but for an oven I 
was indeed puzzled. At length I found out an ex- 
pedient for that also, which was this : I made some 
earthen vessels, very broad but not deep, that is to 


1 76 THE ADVENTURES OF 

say, about two feet diameter, and not above nine 
inches deep ; these I burned in the fire, as I had 
done the other, and laid them by ; and when I 
wanted to bake, I made a great fire upon my hearth, 
which I had paved with some square tiles, of my 
own making and burning also ; but I should not 
call them square. When the fire-wood was burned 
into embers, or live coals, I drew them forward 
upon the hearth, so as to cover it all over, and 
there let them lie till the hearth was very hot ; then, 
sweeping away all the embers, I set down my loaf, 
or loaves, and, covering them with the earthen pot, 
drew the embers all round the outside of the pot, 
to keep in and add to the heat ; and thus, as well as 
in the best oven in the world, I baked my barley 
loaves, and became, in a little time, a good pastry- 
cook into the bargain ; for I made myself several 
cakes and puddings of the rice ; but made no pies, 
as I had nothing to put into them except the flesh 
of fowls or goats. 

It need not be wondered at if all these things 
took me up most part of the third year of my abode 
here ; for it is to be observed, in the intervals of 
these things, I had my new harvest and husbandry 
to manage : I reaped my corn in its season, and 
carried it home as well as I could, and laid it up in 
the ear, in my large baskets, till I had time to rub 
it out; for I had no floor to thresh it on, or instru- 
ment to thresh it with. 

And now, indeed, my stock of corn increasing, 
I really wanted to build my barns bigger: I wanted 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


I 77 

a place to lay it up in ; for the increase of the corn 
now yielded me so much that I had of the barley 
about twenty bushels, and of rice as much, or more, 
insomuch that now I resolved to begin to use it 
freely ; for my bread had been quite gone a great 
while ; I resolved also to see what quantity would 
be sufficient for me a whole year, and to sow but 
once a year. 

Upon the whole, I found that the forty bushels 
of barley and rice were much more than I could 
consume in a year; so I resolved to sow just the 
same quantity every year that I sowed the last, in 
hopes that such a quantity would fully provide me 
with bread, etc. 



ll the while these things were doing, you may 



be sure my thoughts ran many times upon 
the prospect of land which I had seen from the 
other side of the island ; and I was not without 
some secret wishes that I was on shore there; fan- 
cying that, seeing the main land, and an inhabited 
country, I might find some way or other to convey 
myself farther, and perhaps at last find some means 
of escape. 

But all this while I made no allowance for the 
dangers of such a condition, and that I might fall 
into the hands of savages, and perhaps such as I 
might have reason to think far worse than the lions 
and tigers of Africa; and that if I once came in 
their power, I should run a hazard of more than 
a thousand to one of being killed, and perhaps of 
being eaten; for I had heard that the people of the 
Caribbean coast were cannibals, or man-eaters; and 
I knew, by the latitude, that I could not be far off 
from that shore. Then supposing they were not 
cannibals, yet that they might kill me, as they had 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


179 

many Europeans who had fallen into their hands, 
even when they have been ten or twenty together; 
much more I, who was but one, and could make 
little or no defence; all these things, I say, which 
I ought to have considered well of, and did cast 
up in my thoughts afterwards, took up none 
of my apprehensions at first; yet my head ran 
mightily upon the thought of getting over to 
the shore. 

\ Now I wished for my boy Xury, and the long- 
boat with the shoulder-of-mutton sail, with which 
I sailed above a thousand miles on the coast of 
Africa; but this was in vain. Then I thought I 
would go and look at our ship’s boat, which, as 
I have said, was blown up upon the shore a great 
way, in the storm, when we were first cast away. 
She lay nearly where she did at first, but not quite; 
having turned, by the force of the waves and the 
winds, almost bottom upward, against a high ridge 
of beachy rough sand; but no water about her, as 
before. If I had had hands to have refitted her, 
and to have launched her into the water, the boat 
would have done very well, and I might have gone 
back into the Brazils with her easily enough; but 
I might have foreseen that I could no more turn 
her and set her upright upon her bottom than I 
could remove the island; however, I went to the 
woods, and cut levers and rollers, and brought 
them to the boat, resolving to try what I could do ; 
suggesting to myself that if I could but turn her 
down, and repair the damage she had received, she 


r i8o THE ADVENTURES OF 

would be a very good boat, and I might venture 
to sea in her. 

I spared no pains, indeed, in this piece of fruit- 
less toil, and spent, I think, three or four weeks 
about it ; at last, finding it impossible to heave her 
up with my little strength, I fell to digging away 
the sand, to undermine her and so as to make her 
fall down, setting pieces of wood to thrust and 
guide her right in the fall. But when I had done 
this, I was unable to stir her up again, or to get 
under her, much less to move her forward towards 
the water; so I was forced to give it over; and yet, 
though I gave over the hopes of the boat, my 
desire to venture over the main increased rather 
than diminished, as the means for it seemed im- 
possible. 

At length, I began to think whether it was not 
possible to make myself a canoe, or periagua, such 
as the natives of those climates make, even with- 
out tools, or, as I might say, without hands, of 
the trunk of a great tree. This I not only thought 
possible, but easy, and pleased myself extremely 
with the idea of making it, and with my having 
much more convenience for it than any of the 
Negroes or Indians; but not at all considering 
the particular inconveniences which I lay under 
more than the Indians did, viz., the want of hands 
to move it into the water when it was made, a dif- 
ficulty much harder for me to surmount than all 
the consequences of want of tools could be to them ; 
for what could it avail me, if, after I had chosen my 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 181 

tree, and with much trouble cut it down, and might 
be able with my tools to hew and dub the outside 
into the proper shape of a boat, and burn or cut out 
the inside to make it hollow, so as to make a boat 
of it — if, after all this, I must leave it just where 
I found it, and was not able to launch it into the 
water ? 

One would imagine, if I had had the least reflec- 
tion upon my mind of my circumstances while I 
was making this boat, I should have immediately 
thought how I was to get it into the sea: but my 
thoughts were so intent upon my voyage in it that 
I never once considered how I should get it off 
the land; and it was really, in its own nature, more 
easy for me to guide it over forty-five miles of sea 
than the forty-five fathoms of land, where it lay, 
to set it afloat in the water. 

I went to work upon this boat the most like a 
fool that ever man did who had any of his senses 
awake. I pleased myself with the design, without 
determining whether I was able to undertake it; 
not but that the difficulty of launching my boat 
came often into my head; but I put a stop to my 
own inquiries into it by this foolish answer: “Let 
us first make it; I warrant I will find some way or 
other to get it along when it is done.” 

\ This was a most preposterous method; but 
the eagerness of my fancy prevailed, and to work 
I went. I felled a cedar tree, and I question much 
whether Solomon ever had such a one for the build- 
ing of the Temple at Jerusalem; it was five feet 


i 82 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


ten inches diameter at the lower part next the stump, 
and four feet eleven inches diameter at the end of 
twenty-two feet, where it lessened and then parted 
into branches. It was not without infinite labour 
that I felled this tree; I was twenty days hacking 
and hewing at the bottom, and fourteen more get- 
ting the branches and limbs, and the vast spreading 
head of it, cut off. After this, it cost me a month 
to shape it and dub it to a proportion, and to some- 
thing like the bottom of a boat, that it might swim 
upright as it ought to do. It cost me near three 
months more to clear the inside, and work it out 
so as to make an exact boat of it: this I did, in- 
deed, without fire, by mere mallet and chisel, and 
by the dint of hard labour, till I had brought it 
to be a very handsome periagua, and big enough 
to have carried six-and-twenty men, and conse- 
quently big enough to have carried me and all 
my cargo. 

When I had gone through this work, I was ex- 
tremely delighted with it. The boat was really much 
bigger than ever I saw a canoe or a periagua that was 
made of one tree, in my life. Many a weary stroke 
it had cost, you may be sute ; and there remained 
nothing but to get it into the water; which, had I 
accomplished, I make no question but I should 
have begun the maddest voyage, and the most un- 
likely to be performed, that ever was undertaken. 

But all my devices to get it into the water failed 
me; though they cost me inexpressible labour too. 
It lay about one hundred yards from the water, and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 183 

not more; but the first inconvenience was, it was 
up-hill towards the creek. Well, to take away this 
discouragement, I resolved to dig into the surface 
of the earth, and so make a declivity; this I began, 
and it cost me a prodigious deal of pains (but who 
grudge pains that have their deliverance in view?) 
When this was worked through, and this difficulty 
managed, it was still much the same, for I could 
no more stir the canoe than I could the other boat. 
Then I measured the distance of ground, and re- 
solved to cut a dock, or canal, to bring the water up 
to the canoe, seeing I could not bring the canoe 
down to the water. Well, I began this work; and 
when I began to enter upon it, and calculate how 
deep it was to be dug, how broad, how the stuff 
was to be thrown out, I found by the number of 
hands I had, having none but my own, that it must 
have been ten or twelve years before I could have 
gone through with it; for the shore lay so high that 
at the upper end it must have been at least twenty 
feet deep ; this attempt, though with great reluc- 
tancy, I was at length obliged to give over also.\ 

This grieved me heartily ; and now I saw, though 
too late, the folly of beginning a work before we 
count the cost, and before we judge rightly of our 
own strength to go through with it. 

In the middle of this work I finished my fourth 
year in this place, and kept my anniversary with 
the same devotion, and with as much comfort as 
before; for, by a constant study and serious ap- 
plication to the word of God and by the assistance 


1 84 THE ADVENTURES OF 

of his grace, I gained a different knowledge from 
what I had before; I entertained different notions 
of things ; I looked now upon the world as a thing 
remote, which I had nothing to do with, no ex- 
pectation from, and, indeed, no desires about : in 
a word, I had nothing to do with it, nor was ever 
likely to have ; I thought it looked, as we may 
perhaps look upon it hereafter, viz., as a place I 
had lived in, but was come out of it ; and well 
might I say, as Father Abraham to Dives, “ Between 
me and thee is a great gulf fixed.” 

In the first place, I was here removed from all 
the wickedness of the world ; I had neither the lust 
of the flesh, the lust of the eye, nor the pride of 
life. I had nothing to covet, for I had all that I 
was now capable of enjoying : I was lord of the 
whole manor ; or, if I pleased, I might call myself 
king or emperor over the whole country which I 
had possession of ; there were no rivals ; I had no 
competitor, none to dispute sovereignty or com- 
mand with me. I might have raised ship-loadings 
of corn, but I had no use for it ; so I let as little 
grow as I thought enough for my occasion. I had 
tortoise or turtle enough, but now and then one 
was as much as I could put to any use ; I had 
timber enough to have built a fleet of ships, and 
I had grapes enough to have made wine, or to have 
cured into raisins, to have loaded that fleet when 
it had been built. 

But all I could make use of was all that was val- 
uable ; I had enough to eat and supply my wants, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 185 

and what was the rest to me ? If I killed more 
flesh than I could eat, the dog must eat it, or ver- 
min ; if I sowed more corn than I could eat, it 
must be spoiled ; the trees that I cut down were 
lying to rot on the ground; I could make no more 
use of them than for fuel, and that I had no other 
occasion for but to dress my food. 

In a word, the nature and experience of things 
dictated to me, upon just reflection, that all the 
good things of this world are of no farther good 
to us than for our use ; and that whatever we may 
heap up to give others, we enjoy only as much as 
we can use, and no more. The most covetous grip- 
ing miser in the world would have been cured of 
the vice of covetousness if he had been in my case, 
for I possessed infinitely more than I knew what 
to do with. I had no room for desire, except it was 
for things which I had not, and they were com- 
paratively but trifles, though indeed of great use 
to me. (i had, as I hinted before, a parcel of 
money, as well gold as silver, about thirty-six 
pounds sterling. Alas! there the nasty, sorry, 
useless stuff lay : I had no manner of business for 
it; and I often thought within myself that I would 
have given a handful of it for a gross of tobacco- 
pipes, or for a hand-mill to grind my corn ; nay, 
I would have given it all for a sixpenny-worth of 
turnip and carrot seed from England, or for a 
handful of peas and beans, and a bottle of ink. 
As it was, I had not the least advantage by it, or 
benefit from it ; but there it lay in a drawer, and 


1 86 THE ADVENTURES OF 


grew mouldy with the damp of the cave in the 
wet seasons ; and if I had had the drawer full of 
diamonds, it had been the same case, — they would 
have been of no manner of value to me because of 
no use. 

I had now brought my state of life to be much 
more comfortable in itself than it was at first, and 
much easier to my mind, as well as to my body. 
I frequently sat down to meat with thankfulness, 
and admired the hand of God's providence, which 
had thus spread my table in the wilderness ; I 
learned to look more upon the bright side of my 
condition, and less upon the dark side, and to con- 
sider what I enjoyed, rather than what I wanted; 
and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts 
that I cannot express them ; and which I take 
notice of here, to put those discontented people 
in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what 
God has given them, because they see and covet 
something that he has not given them. All our 
discontents about what we want appeared to me to/ 
spring from the want of thankfulness for what we 
have. 

Another reflection was of great use to me, and 
doubtless would be so to any one that should fall 
into such distress as mine was ; and this was, to 
compare my present condition with what I at first 
expected it would be ; nay, with what it would cer- 
tainly have been if the good providence of God had 
not wonderfully ordered the ship to be cast up near 
to the shore where I not only could come at her, but 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


187 

could bring what I got out of her to the shore, 
for my relief and comfort ; without which I had 
wanted for tools to work, weapons for defence, and 
gunpowder and shot for getting my food. 

I spent whole hours, I may say whole days, in 
representing to myself, in the most lively colours, 
how I must have acted if I had got nothing out 
of the ship. I could not have so much as got any 
food, except fish and turtles ; and that, as it was 
long before I found any of them, I must have 
perished ; that I should have lived, if I had not 
perished, like a mere savage ; that if I had killed 
a goat or a fowl by any contrivance, I had no way 
to flay or open it, or part the flesh from the skin 
and the bowels, or to cut it up, but must gnaw 
it with my teeth, and pull it with my claws like a 
beast. 

VThese reflections made me very sensible of the 
goodness of Providence to me, and very thankful 
for my present condition, with all its hardships and 
misfortunes; and this part also I cannot but re- 
commend to the reflection of those who are apt, 
in their misery, to say, Is any affliction like mine? 
Let them consider how much worse the cases of 
some people are, and their case might have been, 
if Providence had thought fit. 

I had another reflection, which assisted me also 
to comfort my mind with hopes; and this was, 
comparing my present condition with what I had 
deserved, and had therefore reason to expect from 
the hand of Providence. I had lived a dreadful 


1 8 8 


THE ADVENTURES OF 

life, perfectly destitute of the knowledge and fear 
of God. I had been well instructed by my father 
and mother; neither had they been wanting to me, 
in their endeavours to infuse an early religious awe 
of God into my mind, a sense of my duty, and 
what the nature and end of my being required of 
me. But, alas! falling early into the seafaring life, 
which, of all lives, is the most destitute of the fear 
of God, though his terrors are always before them ; 
I say, falling early into the seafaring life, and into 
seafaring company, all that little sense of religion 
which I had entertained was laughed out of me by 
my messmates, by a hardened despising of dangers, 
and the views of death, which grew habitual to me, 
by my long absence from all manner of opportun- 
ities to converse with anything but what was like 
myself, or to hear anything that was good, or tend- 
ing towards it. 

So void was I of everything that was good, or 
of the least sense of what I was, or was to be, that 
in the greatest deliverances I enjoyed (such as my 
escape from Sallee, my being taken up by the 
Portuguese master of a ship, my being planted so 
well in the Brazils, my receiving the cargo from 
England, and the like), I never had once the 
words, “ Thank God,” so much as on my mind, 
or in my mouth; nor in the greatest distress had 
I so much as a thought to pray to him, or so much 
as to say, “Lord, have mercy upon me!” no, nor 
to mention the name of God, unless it was to 
swear by, and blaspheme it. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 189 

I had terrible reflections upon my mind for 
many months, as I have already observed, on ac- 
count of my wicked and hardened life past ; and 
when I looked about me, and considered what 
particular providences had attended me since my 
coming into this place, and how God had dealt 
bountifully with me, — had not only punished me 
less than my iniquity had deserved, but had so 
plentifully provided for me, — this gave me great 
hopes that my repentance was accepted, and that 
God had yet mercies in store for me. 

With these reflections I worked my mind up, 
not only to a resignation to the will of God in the 
present disposition of my circumstances, but even 
to a sincere thankfulness for my condition; and 
that I, who was yet a living man, ought not to 
complain, seeing I had not the due punishment 
of my sins; that I enjoyed so many mercies which 
I had no reason to have expected in that place 
that I ought never more to repine at my condi- 
tion, but to rejoice, and to give daily thanks for 
that daily bread which nothing but a crowd of 
wonders could have brought ; that I ought to con- 
sider I had been fed by a miracle, even as great as 
that of feeding Elijah by ravens, nay, by a long 
series of miracles ; and that I could hardly have 
named a place in the uninhabitable part of the 
world where I could have been cast more to my 
advantage; a place where, as I had no society, 
which was my affliction on one hand, so I found 
no ravenous beasts, no furious wolves or tigers. 


190 THE ADVENTURES OF 

to threaten my life; no venomous or poisonous 
creatures, which I might feed on to my hurt; no 
savages, to murder and devour me. In a word, as 
my life was a life of sorrow one way, so it was a life 
of mercy another; and I wanted nothing to make 
it a life of comfort but to make myself sensible 
of God's goodness to me, and care over me in this 
condition ; and after I did make a just improve- 
ment of these things, I went away, and was no 
more sad. 

I had now been here so long that many things 
which I brought on shore for my help were either 
quite gone, or very much wasted and near spent. 

My ink, as I observed, had been gone for some 
time, all but a very little, which I eked out with 
water, a little and a little, till it was so pale it 
scarce left any appearance of black upon the paper. 
As long as it lasted, I made use of it to minute 
down the days of the month on which any remark- 
able thing happened to me; and, first, by casting 
up times past, I remember that there was a strange 
concurrence of days in the various providences 
which befel me, and which, if I had been super- 
stitiously inclined to observe days as fatal or for- 
tunate, I might have had reason to have looked 
upon with a great deal of curiosity. 

First, I had observed that the same day that I 
broke away from my father and my friends, and 
ran away to Hull, in order to go to sea, the same 
day afterwards I was taken by the Sallee man-of- 
war, and made a slave; the same day of the year 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


191 

that I escaped out of the wreck of the ship in Yar- 
mouth Roads, that same day, years afterwards, I 
made my escape from Sallee in the boat : and the 
same day of the year I was born on, the 30th of 
September, that same day I had my life so miracu- 
lously saved twenty-six years after, when I was cast 
on shore in this island; so that my wicked life and 
my solitary life began both on one day. 

VThe next thing to my ink being wasted was that 
of my bread, I mean the biscuit which I brought 
out of the ship : this I had husbanded to the last 
degree, allowing myself but one cake of bread a 
day for above a year; and yet I was quite without 
bread for near a year before I got any corn of my 
own ; and great reason I had to be thankful that I 
had any at all, the getting it being, as has been 
already observed, next to miraculous. 

V My clothes, too, began to decay mightily : as to 
linen, I had none for a great while, except some 
chequered shirts which I found in the chests of the 
other seamen, and which I carefully preserved, be- 
cause many times I could bear no clothes on but 
a shirt, and it was a v£ry great help to me that I 
had, among all the men's clothes of the ship, almost 
three dozen of shirts. There were also, indeed, 
several thick watchcoats of the seamen's which were 
left, but they were too hot to wear; and though it 
is true that the weather was so violently hot that 
there was no need of clothes, yet I could not go 
quite naked, no, though I had been inclined to it, 
which I was not, nor could I abide the thought of 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


192 

it, though I was all alone. The reason why I could 
not go quite naked was, I could not bear the heat 
of the sun so well when quite naked as with some 
clothes on ; nay, the very heat frequently blistered 
my skin : whereas, with a shirt on, the air itself 
made some motion, and whistling under the shirt 
was two-fold cooler than without it. No more could 
I ever bring myself to go out in the heat of the sun 
without a cap or hat; the heat of the sun beating 
with such violence, as it does in that place, would 
give me the headache presently, by darting so 
directly upon my head, without a cap or hat on, 
so that I could not bear it; whereas, if I put on my 
hat, it would presently go away. 

\Upon these views, I began to consider about 
putting the few rags I had, which I called clothes, 
into some order. I had worn out all the waistcoats 
I had, and my business was now to try if I could 
not make jackets out of the great watchcoats that 
I had by me, and with such other materials as I 
had ; so I set to work a-tailoring, or rather, indeed, 
a-botching, for I made most piteous work of it. 
However, I made shift to make two or three new 
waistcoats, which I hoped would serve me a great 
while : as for breeches, or drawers, I made but a 
very sorry shift indeed, till afterwards. 

I have mentioned that I saved the skins of all 
the creatures that I killed, I mean four-footed ones ; 
and I had hung them up, stretched out with sticks, 
in the sun, by which means some of them were 
so dry and hard that they were fit for little, but 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 193 

others I found very useful. The first thing I 
made of these was a great cap for my head, with 
the hair on the outside, to shoot off the rain ; and 
this I performed so well that after this I made me 
a suit of clothes wholly of the skins, that is to 
say, a waistcoat and breeches, open at the knees, 
and both loose ; for they were rather wanting to 
keep me cool than warm. I must not omit to ac- 
knowledge, that they were wretchedly made; for if 
I was a bad carpenter, I was a worse tailor. How- 
ever, they were such as I made very good shift 
with ; and when I was abroad, if it happened to 
rain, the hair of my waistcoat and cap being upper- 
most, I was kept very dry. 

After this, I spent a great deal of time and pains 
to make me an umbrella; I was indeed in great 
want of one, and had a great mind to make one; 
I had seen them made in the Brazils, where they 
were very useful in the great heats which are there; 
and I felt the heats every jot as great here, and 
greater too, being nearer the equinox; besides, as I 
was obliged to be much abroad, it was a most use- 
ful thing to me, as well for the rains as the heats. 
I took a world of pains at it, and was a great while 
before I could make anything likely to hold; nay, 
after I thought I had hit the way, I spoiled two or 
three before I made one to my mind ; but at last 
I made one that answered indifferently well. The 
main difficulty I found was to make it to let down : 
I could make it spread, but if it did not let down 
too, and draw in, it was not portable for me any 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


194 

way but just over my head, which would not do. 
However, at last, as I said, I made one to answer, 
and covered it with skins, the hair upwards, so that 
it cast off the rain like a pent-house, and kept off 
the sun so effectually that I could walk out in the 
hottest of the weather with greater advantage than 
I could before in the coolest; and when I had no 
need of it, could close it and carry it under my 
arm. 

\Thus I lived mighty comfortably, my mind being 
entirely composed by resigning to the will of God, 
and throwing myself wholly upon the disposal of 
his providence. This made my life better than 
sociable ; for when I began to regret the want of 
conversation, I would ask myself whether thus 
conversing mutually with my own thoughts, 
and, as I hope I may say, with even God himself, 
by ejaculations, was not better than the utmost 
enjoyment of human society in the world ! 



I cannot say that after this, for five years, any 
extraordinary thing happened to me, but I lived 
on in the same course, in the same posture and 
place, just as before ; the chief things I was em- 
ployed in, besides my yearly labour of planting 
my barley and rice, and curing my raisins, of both 
which I always kept just enough to have sufficient 
stock of one year’s provision beforehand : I say, 
besides this yearly labour, and my daily pursuit of 
going out with my gun, I had one labour, to make 
me a canoe, which at last I finished ; so that, by 
digging a canal to it of six feet wide, and four feet 
deep, I brought it into the creek, almost half a 
mile. As for the first, which was so vastly big, as 
I made it without considering beforehand, as I 
ought to do, how I should be able to launch it, 
so, never being able to bring it into the water, or 
bring the water to it, I was obliged to let it lie 
where it was, as a memorandum to teach me to be 
wiser the next time : indeed, the next time, though 
I could not get a tree proper for it, and was in a 


1 96 THE ADVENTURES OF 

place where I could not get the water to it at 
any less distance than, as I have said, near half a 
mile, yet as I saw it was practicable at last, I never 
gave it over ; and though I was near two years 
about it, yet I never grudged my labour, in hopes 
of having a boat to go off to sea at last. 

However, though my little periagua was fin- 
ished, yet the size of it was not at all answerable 
to the design which I had in view when I made 
the first ; I mean, of venturing over to the terra 
firma , where it was about forty miles broad ; ac- 
cordingly, the smallness of my boat assisted to 
put an end to that design, and now I thought no 
more of it. As I had a boat, my next design was 
to make a cruise round the island ; for, as I had 
been on the other side in one place, crossing, as 
I have already described it, over the land, so the 
discoveries I made in that little journey made 
me very eager to see other parts of the coast ; and 
now I had a boat, I thought of nothing but sailing 
round the island. 

For this purpose, that I might do everything 
with discretion and consideration, I fitted up a lit- 
tle mast in my boat, and made a sail to it out 
of some of the pieces of the ship’s sails which lay 
in store, and of which I had a great stock by me. 
Having fitted my mast and sail, and tried the 
boat, I found she would sail very well : then I 
made little lockers, or boxes, at each end of my 
boat, to put provisions, necessaries, ammunition, 
etc., into, to be kept dry, either from rain or the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


1 97 

spray of the sea ; and a little long hollow place I 
cut in the inside of the boat, where I could lay my 
gun, making a flap to hang down over it, to keep 
it dry. 

I fixed my umbrella also in a step at the stern, 
like a mast, to stand over my head, and keep the 
heat of the sun off* me, like an awning ; and thus 
every now and then took a little voyage upon the 
sea, but never went far out, nor far from the little 
creek. At last, being eager to view the circumfer- 
ence of my little kingdom, I resolved upon my 
cruise ; and accordingly I victualled my ship for 
the voyage, putting in two dozen of loaves (cakes 
I should rather call them) of barley bread, an 
earthen pot full of parched rice (a food I ate a 
great deal of), a little bottle of rum, half a goat, 
and powder and shot for killing more, and two 
large watch-coats, of those which, as I mentioned 
before, I had saved out of the seamen’s chests ; 
these I took, one to lie upon, and the other to 
cover me in the night. 

It was the sixth of November, in the sixth year 
of my reign, or my captivity, which you please, 
that I set out on this voyage, and I found it much 
longer than I expected ; for though the island itself 
was not very large, yet when I came to the east 
side of it, I found a great ledge of rocks lie out 
about two leagues into the sea, some above water, 
some under it; and beyond that a shoal of sand, 
lying dry half a league more, so that I was obliged 
to go a great way out to sea to double the point. 


198 THE ADVENTURES OF 

When first I discovered them, I was going to 
give over my enterprise, and come back again, not 
knowing how far it might oblige me to go out to 
sea, and, above all, doubting how I should get back 
again ; so I came to an anchor ; for I had made 
me a kind of anchor with a piece of broken grap- 
pling which I got out of the ship. 

Having secured my boat, I took my gun and 
went on shore, climbing up on a hill which seemed 
to overlook that point, where I saw the full extent 
of it, and resolved to venture. 

In my viewing the sea from that hill where I 
stood, I perceived a strong, and indeed a most fu- 
rious current, which ran to the east, and even came 
close to the point ; and I took the more notice 
of it because I saw there might be some danger 
that, when I came into it, I might be carried out 
to sea by the strength of it, and not be able to 
make the island again ; and, indeed, had I not got 
first upon this hill I believe it would have been 
so ; for there was the same current on the other 
side of the island, only that it set off at a farther 
distance, and I saw there was a strong eddy under 
the shore; so I had nothing to do but to get out 
of the first current, and I should presently be in 
an eddy. 

I lay here, however, two days, because the wind 
blowing pretty fresh at ESE., and that being 
just contrary to the said current, made a great 
breach of the sea upon the point ; "so that it was 
not safe for me to keep too close to the shore, for 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


199 

the breach, nor to go too far off, because of the 
stream. 

The third day, in the morning, the wind having 
abated overnight, the sea was calm, and I ventured; 
but I am a warning-piece again to all rash and igno- 
rant pilots : for no sooner was I come to the point, 
when I was not even my boat’s length from the 
shore, but I found myself in a great depth of water, 
and a current like the sluice of a mill ; it carried 
my boat along with it with such violence that all 
I could do could not keep her so much as on the 
edge of it; but I found it hurried me farther and 
farther out from the. eddy, which was on my left 
hand. There was no wind stirring to help me, and 
all I could do with my paddles signified nothing ; 
and now I began to give myself over for lost ; for 
as the current was on both sides of the island, I 
knew in a few leagues’ distance they must join 
again, and then I was irrecoverably gone ; nor did 
I see any possibility of avoiding it ; so that I had 
no prospect before me but of perishing, not by the 
sea, for that was calm enough, but of starving for 
hunger. I had indeed found a tortoise on the shore, 
as big almost as I could lift, and had tossed it into 
the boat ; and I had a great jar of fresh water, that 
is to say, one of my earthen pots ; but what was all 
this to being driven into the vast ocean, where, to 
be sure, there was no shore, no main land or island, 
for a thousand leagues at least ? 

And now I saw how easy it was for the pro- 
vidence of God to make even the most miserable 


200 THE ADVENTURES OF 

condition of mankind worse. Now I looked back 
upon my desolate, solitary island as the most pleas- 
ant place in the world ; and all the happiness my 
heart could wish for was to be but there again. I 
stretched out my hands to it, with eager wishes : 
“ O happy desert ! ” said I, “ I shall never see thee 
more. O miserable creature! whither am I going! ” 
Then I reproached myself with my unthankful 
temper, and how I had repined at my solitary con- 
dition ; and now what would I give to be on shore 
there again ! Thus we never see the true state of 
our condition till it is illustrated to us by its con- 
traries, nor know how to value what we enjoy but 
by the want of it. It is scarce possible to imagine 
the consternation I was now in, being driven from 
my beloved island (for so it appeared to me now 
to be) into the wide ocean, almost two leagues, 
and in the utmost despair of ever recovering it 
again. However, I worked hard, till indeed my 
strength was almost exhausted, and kept my boat 
as much to the northward, that is, towards the side 
of the current which the eddy lay on, as possibly 
I could ; when about noon, as the sun passed the 
meridian, I thought I felt a little breeze of wind 
in my face, springing up from SSE. This cheered 
my heart a little, and especially when, in about half 
an hour more, it blew a pretty gentle gale. By this 
time I was got at a frightful distance from the 
island, and had the least cloudy or hazy weather 
intervened, I had been undone another way too ; 
for I had no compass on board, and should never 


■ras 



BEING CARRIED BY THE CURRENT AWAY FROM THE ISLAND 




T ‘ # 9 

■ « ^ - 


-s 


l»9rv 

■ . . 


1 " 








ROBINSON CRUSOE 


201 


have known howto have steered towards the island 
if I had but once lost sight of it ; but the weather 
continuing clear, I applied myself to get up my 
mast again, and spread my sail, standing away to 
the north as much as possible, to get out of the 
current. 

Just as I had set my mast and sail, and the boat 
began to stretch away, I saw even by the clearness 
of the water some alteration of the current was 
near ; for where the current was so strong, the 
water was foul ; but perceiving the water clear, I 
found the current abate ; and presently I found to 
the east, at about half a mile, a breach of the sea 
upon some rocks : these rocks I found caused the 
current to part again, and as the main stress of it 
ran away more southerly, leaving the rocks to the 
north-east, so the other returned by the repulse of 
the rocks, and made a strong eddy, which ran back 
again to the north-west, with a very sharp stream. 

They who know what it is to have a reprieve 
brought to them upon the ladder, or to be rescued 
from thieves just going to murder them, or who 
have been in such-like extremities, may guess what 
my present surprise of joy was, and how gladly I 
put my boat into the stream of this eddy ; and the 
wind also freshening, how gladly I spread my sail 
to it, running cheerfully before the wind, and with 
a strong tide or eddy under foot. 

This eddy carried me about a league in my way 
back again, directly towards the island, but about 
two leagues more to the northward than the cur- 


202 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


rent which carried me away at first : so that, when 
I came near the island, I found myself open to the 
northern shore of it, that is to say, the other end 
of the island, opposite to that which I went out 
from. 

When I had made something more than a league 
of way by the help of this current or eddy, I found 
it was spent, and served me no farther. However, 
I found that being between two great currents, viz., 
that on the south side, which had hurried me away, 
and that on the north, which lay about a league 
on the other side ; I say, between these two, in the 
wake of the island, I found the water at least still, 
and running no way ; and having still a breeze of 
wind fair for me, I kept on steering directly for the 
island, though not making such fresh way as I did 
before. 

About four o’clock in the evening, being then 
within a league of the island, I found the point of 
the rocks which occasioned this disaster, stretching 
out, as is described before, to the southward, and, 
casting off the current more southerly, had, of 
course, made another eddy to the north ; and this 
I found very strong, but not directly setting the 
way my course lay, which was due west, but al- 
most full north. However, having a fresh gale, I 
stretched across this eddy, slanting north-west ; 
and, in about an hour, came within about a mile 
of the shore, where, it being smooth water, I soon 
got to land. 

When I was on shore, I fell on my knees, and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


203 

gave God thanks for my deliverance, resolving to 
lay aside all thoughts of my deliverance by my 
boat ; and refreshing myself with such things as I 
had, I brought my boat close to the shore, in a 
little cove that I had spied under some trees, and 
laid me down to sleep, being quite spent with the 
labour and fatigue of the voyage. 

I was now at a great loss which way to get home 
with my boat; I had run so much hazard, and knew 
too much of the case, to think of attempting it 
by the way I went out ; and what might be at the 
other side (I mean the west side) I knew not, nor 
had I any mind to run any more ventures ; so I 
only resolved in the morning to make my way 
westward along the shore, and see if there was no 
creek where I might lay up my frigate in safety, 
so as to have her again if I wanted her. In about 
three miles, or thereabout, coasting the shore, I 
came to a very good inlet or bay, about a mile 
over, which narrowed till it came to a very little 
rivulet or brook, where I found a very convenient 
harbour for my boat, and where she lay as if she 
had been in a little dock made on purpose for her. 
Here I put in, and having stowed my boat very 
safe, I went on shore, to look about me and see 
where I was. 

I soon found I had but a little passed by the 
place where I had been before, when I travelled 
on foot to that shore ; so taking nothing out of my 
boat but my gun and umbrella, for it was exceed- 
ing hot, I began my march. The way was com- 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


204 

fortable enough after such a voyage as I had been 
upon, and I reached my old bower in the evening, 
where I found everything standing as I had left it; 
for I always kept it in good order, being, as I said 
before, my country-house. 

I got over the fence, and laid me down in the 
shade to rest my limbs, for I was very weary, and 
fell asleep : but judge you, if you can that read 
my story, what a surprise I must be in when I was 
awaked out of my sleep by a voice, calling me by 
my name several times, Cf Robin, Robin, Robin 
Crusoe; poor Robin Crusoe! Where are you, Robin 
Crusoe? Where are you? Where have you 
been?” 

I was so dead asleep at first, being fatigued with 
rowing, or paddling, as it is called, the first part of 
the day, and with walking the latter part, that I did 
not wake thoroughly ; but, dozing between sleep- 
ing and waking, thought I dreamed that somebody 
spoke to me ; but as the voice continued to repeat 
“ Robin Crusoe, Robin Crusoe,” at last I began to 
wake more perfectly, and was at first dreadfully 
frightened, and started up in the utmost consterna- 
tion ; but no sooner were my eyes open but I saw 
my Poll sitting on the top of the hedge ; and imme- 
diately knew it was he that spoke to me: for just 
in such bemoaning language I had used to talk to 
him, and teach him ; and he had learned it so per- 
fectly that he would sit upon my finger, and lay 
his bill close to my face, and cry, “ Poor Robin 
Crusoe; Where are you ? Where have you been ? 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


205 

How came you here?” and such things as I had 
taught him. 

However, even though I knew it was the par- 
rot, and that indeed it could be nobody else, it 
was a good while before I could compose myself. 
First, I was amazed how the creature got thither ; 
and then how he should just keep about the place, 
and nowhere else : but as I was well satisfied it 
could be nobody but honest Poll, I got over it ; 
and holding out my hand, and calling him by his 
name, Poll, the sociable creature came to me, and 
sat upon my thumb, as he used to do, and con- 
tinued talking to me, “ Poor Robin Crusoe ! ” and 
how did I come here ? and where had I been ? 
just as if he had been overjoyed to see me again; 
and so I carried him home along with me. 

I now had enough of rambling to sea for some 
time, and had enough to do for many days to sit 
still, and to reflect upon the danger I had been in. 
I would have been very glad to have had my boat 
again on my side of the island ; but I knew not 
how it was practicable to get it about. As to the 
east side of the island, which I had gone round, I 
knew well enough there was no venturing that way ; 
my very heart would shrink, and my very blood 
run chill, but to think of it; and as to the other 
side of the island, I did not know how it might 
be there ; but supposing the current ran with the 
same force against the shore at the east as it passed 
by it on the other, I might run the same risk of 
being driven down the stream, and carried by the 


20 6 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


island, as I had been before of being carried away 
from it; so, with these thoughts, I contented my- 
self to be without any boat, though it had been the 
product of so many months’ labour to make it, and 
of so many more to get it into the sea. 

In this government of my temper I remained 
near a year, lived a very sedate, retired life, as you 
may well suppose ; and my thoughts being very 
much composed, as to my condition, and fully 
comforted in resigning myself to the dispositions of 
Providence, I thought I lived really very happily 
in all things, except that of society. 

I improved myself in this time in all the me- 
chanic exercises which my necessities put me upon 
applying myself to; and I believe I could, upon 
occasion, have made a very good carpenter, espe- 
cially considering how few tools I had. 

Besides this, I arrived at an unexpected perfec- 
tion in my earthenware, and contrived well enough 
to make them with a wheel, which I found infin- 
itely easier and better; because I made things round 
and shapeable, which before were filthy things in- 
deed to look upon. But I think I was never more 
vain of my own performance, or more joyful for 
anything I found out, than for my being able to 
make a tobacco-pipe ; and though it was a very ugly 
clumsy thing when it was done, and only burned 
red, like other earthenware, yet as it was hard and 
firm, and would draw the smoke, I was exceedingly 
comforted with it; for I had been always used to 
smoke ; and there were pipes in the ship ; but I for- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


207 

got them at first, not thinking that there was to- 
bacco in the island ; and afterwards, when I searched 
the ship again, I could not come at any pipes at all. 

In my wicker-ware also I improved much, and 
made abundance of necessary baskets, as well as my 
invention showed me; though not very handsome, 
yet they were such as were very handy and conven- 
ient for my laying things up in, or fetching things 
home. For example, if I killed a goat abroad, I 
could hang it up in a tree, flay it, dress it, and cut 
it in pieces, and bring it home in a basket; and the 
like by a turtle; I could cut it up, take out the eggs, 
and a piece or two of the flesh, which was enough 
for me, and bring them home in a basket, and leave 
the rest behind me. Also large deep baskets were 
the receivers of my corn, which I always rubbed 
out as soon as it was dry and cured, and kept it in 
great baskets. 

I began now to perceive my powder abated con- 
siderably; this was a want which it was impossible 
for me to supply, and I began seriously to consider 
what I must do when I should have no more 
powder, that is to say, how I should do to kill any 
goats. I had, as is observed, in the third year of my 
being here, kept a young kid, and bred her up tame, 
and I was in hopes of getting ahe-goat: but I could 
not by any means bring it to pass till my kid grew 
an old goat; and as I could never find in my heart 
to kill her, she died at last of mere age. 



B eing now in the eleventh year of my residence, 
and as I have said, my ammunition growing 
low, I set myself to study some art to trap and 
snare the goats, to see whether I could not catch 
some of them alive; and particularly, I wanted a 
she-goat great with young. For this purpose, I 
made snares to hamper them ; and I do believe they 
were more than once taken in them, but my tackle 
was not good, for I had no wire, and I always found 
them broken, and my bait devoured. At length 
I resolved to try a pitfall : so I dug several large 
pits in the earth, in places where I had observed 
the goats used to feed, and over those pits I placed 
hurdles, of my own making too, with a great weight 
upon them ; and several times I put ears of barley 
and dry rice, without setting the trap; and I could 
easily perceive that the goats had gone in and eaten 
up the corn, for I could see the marks of their 
feet. At length I set three traps in one night, and 
going the next morning, I found them all standing, 
and yet the bait eaten and gone. This was very dis- 



ROBINSON CRUSOE 


209 

couraging; however, I altered my traps; and, not 
to trouble you with particulars, going one morn- 
ing to see my traps, I found in one of them a large 
old he-goat, and in one of the others three kids, 
a male and two females. 

As to the old one, I knew not what to do with 
him; he was so fierce I durst not go into the pit 
to him; that is to say, to go about to bring him 
away alive, which was what I wanted. I could have 
killed him, but that was not my business, nor would 
it answer my end ; so I even let him out, and he 
ran away, as if he had been frightened out of his 
wits. But I had forgot then, what I had learned 
afterwards, that hunger will tame a lion. If I had 
let him stay there three or four days without food, 
and then have carried him some water to drink, and 
then a little corn, he would have been as tame as 
one of the kids ; for they are mighty sagacious, 
tractable creatures, where they are well used. How- 
ever, for the present I let him go, knowing no bet- 
ter at that time: then I went to the three kids, and 
taking them one by one, I tied them with strings 
together, and with some difficulty brought them all 
home. 

It was a good while before they would feed; but 
throwing them some sweet corn, it tempted them, 
and they began to be tame. And now I found that 
if I expected to supply myself with goat’s flesh when 
I had no powder or shot left, breeding some up 
tame was my only way ; when, perhaps, I might 
have them about my house like a flock of sheep. 


210 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


But then it occurred to me that I must keep the 
tame from the wild, or else they would always run 
wild when they grew up ; and the only way for this 
was to have some enclosed piece of ground, well 
fenced, either with hedge or pale, to keep them in 
so effectually that those within might not break out 
or those without break in. 

This was a great undertaking for one pair of 
hands ; yet as I saw there was an absolute necessity 
for doing it, my first work was to find out a proper 
piece of ground, where there was likely to be herb- 
age for them to eat, water for them to drink, and 
cover to keep them from the sun. 

Those who understand such enclosures will think 
I had very little contrivance when I pitched upon 
a place very proper for all these (being a plain open 
piece of meadow land, or savannah, as our people 
call it in the western colonies) which had two or 
three little drills of fresh water in it, and at one end 
was very woody; I say, they will smile at my fore- 
cast when I shall tell them I began my enclosing 
this piece of ground in such a manner that my 
hedge or pale must have been at least two miles 
about. Nor was the madness of it so great as to 
the compass, for if it was ten miles about, I was like 
to have time enough to do it in ; but I did not con- 
sider that my goats would be as wild in so much 
compass as if they had had the whole island, and 
I should have so much room to chase them in that 
I should never catch them. 

My hedge was begun and carried on, I believe, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


21 I 


about fifty yards, when this thought occurred to 
me; so I presently stopped short, and, for the first 
beginning, I resolved to enclose a piece of about 
one hundred and fifty yards in length, and one 
hundred yards in breadth : which, as it would main- 
tain as many as I should have in any reasonable 
time, so, as my stock increased, I could add more 
ground to my enclosure. 

This was acting with some prudence, and I went 
to work with courage. I was about three months 
hedging in the first piece ; and, till I had done it, 
I tethered the three kids in the best part of it, and 
used them to feed as near me as possible, to make 
them familiar ; and very often I would go and carry 
them some ears of barley, or a handful of rice, and 
feed them out of my hand : so that after my en- 
closure was finished, and I let them loose, they 
would follow me up and down, bleating after me 
for a handful of corn. 

This answered my end : and in about a year and 
a half I had a flock of about twelve goats, kids and 
all; and in two years more, I had three-and-forty, 
beside several that I took and killed for my food. 
After that I enclosed five several pieces of ground 
to feed them in, with little pens to drive them into, 
to take them as I wanted, and gates out of one piece 
of ground into another. 

\But this was not all ; for now I not only had 
goat’s flesh to feed on when I pleased, but milk 
too; a thing which, indeed, in the beginning, I did 
not so much as think of, and which, when it came 


212 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


into my thoughts, was really an agreeable surprise; 
for now I set up my dairy, and had sometimes a 
gallon or two of milk in a day. And as Nature, 
who gives supplies of food to every creature, dic- 
tates even naturally how to make use of it, so I, 
that had never milked a cow, much less a goat, or 
seen butter or cheese made, only when I was a boy, 
after a great many essays and miscarriages, made 
me both butter and cheese at last, and also salt 
(though I found it partly made to my hand by the 
heat of the sun upon some of the rocks of the sea), 
and never wanted it afterwards. How mercifully 
can our Creator treat his creatures, even in those 
conditions in which they seemed to be overwhelmed 
in destruction! How can he sweeten the bitterest 
providences, and give us cause to praise him for 
dungeons and prisons ! What a table was here 
spread for me in a wilderness, where I saw nothing, 
at first, but to perish for hunger! 

It would have made a stoic smile to have seen 
me and my little family sit down to dinner. There 
was my majesty, the prince and lord of the whole 
island ; I had the lives of all my subjects at my 
absolute command; I could hang, draw, give lib- 
erty, and take it away ; and no rebels among all 
my subjects. 

Then to see how like a king I dined too, all 
alone, attended by my servants: Poll, as if he had 
been my favourite, was the only person permitted 
to talk to me. My dog, who was now grown very 
old and crazy, and had found no species to multi- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 213 

ply his kind upon, sat always at my right hand; 
and two cats, one on one side of the table, and one 
on the other, expecting now and then a bit from 
my hand, as a mark of special favour. 

But these were not the two cats which I brought 
on shore at first, for they were both of them dead, 
and had been interred near my habitation by my 
own hand; but one of them having multiplied by 
I know not what kind of creature, these were two 
which I had preserved tame; whereas the rest ran 
wild in the woods, and became indeed troublesome 
to me at last; for they would often come into my 
house, and plunder me too, till at last I was obliged 
to shoot them, and did kill a great many ; at length 
they left me. — With this attendance, and in this 
plentiful manner, I lived; neither could I be said 
to want anything but society ; and of that, some time 
after this, I was like to have too much. 

\ I was something impatient, as I have observed, 
to have the use of my boat, though very loath to 
run any more hazards; and therefore sometimes I 
sat contriving ways to get her about the island, and 
at other times I sat myself down contented enough 
without her. But I had a strange uneasiness in my 
mind to go down to the point of the island, where, 
as I have said, in my last ramble, I went up the hill 
to see how the shore lay, and how the current set, 
that I might see what I had to do: this inclination 
increased upon me every day, and at length I re- 
solved to travel thither by land, following the edge 
of the shore. I did so ; but had any one in England 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


214 

been to meet such a man as I was, it must either 
have frightened him, or raised a great deal of laugh- 
ter; and as I frequently stood still to look at myself, 
I could not but smile at the notion of my travel- 
ling through Yorkshire with such an equipage, and 
in such a dress. Be pleased to take a sketch of my 
figure, as follows. 

I had a great high shapeless cap, made of a goat’s 
skin, with a flap hanging down behind, as well to 
keep the sun from me as to shoot the rain off from 
running into my neck; nothing being so hurtful in 
these climates as the rain upon the flesh, under the 
clothes. 

I had a short jacket of goat’s skin, the skirts com- 
ing down to about the middle of the thighs, and 
a pair of open-kneed breeches of the same; the 
breeches were made of the skin of an old he-goat, 
whose hair hung down such a length on either side 
that, like pantaloons, it reached to the middle of 
my legs: stockings and shoes I had none, but had 
made me a pair of somethings, I scarce know what 
to call them, like buskins, to flap over my legs, and 
lace on either side like spatterdashes, but of a most 
barbarous shape, as indeed were all the rest of my 
clothes. 

I had on a broad belt of goat’s skin dried, which 
I drew together with two thongs of the same, in- 
stead of buckles; and in a kind of a frog on either 
side of this, instead of a sword and dagger, hung a 
little saw and a hatchet; one on one side, and one 
on the other. I had another belt, not so broad, and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 215 

fastened in the same manner, which hung over my 
shoulder; and at the end of it, under my left arm, 
hung two pouches, both made of goat's skin too : 
in one of which hung my powder, in the other my 
shot. At my back I carried my basket, and on my 
shoulder my gun ; and over my head a great clumsy 
ugly goat’s-skin umbrella, but which, after all, was 
the most necessary thing I had about me, next to 
my gun. As for my face, the colour of it was really 
not so mulatto-like as one might expect from a man 
not at all careful of it, and living within nine or ten 
degrees of the equinox. My beard I had once suf- 
fered to grow till it was about a quarter of a yard 
long; but as I had bothscissars and razors sufficient, 
I had cut it pretty short, except what grew on my 
upper lip, which I had trimmed into a large pair of 
Mahometan whiskers, such as I had seen worn by 
some Turks at Sallee; for the Moors did not wear 
such, though the Turks did. Of these mustachios 
or whiskers, I will not say they were long enough 
to hang my hat upon them, but they were of a length 
and shape monstrous enough, and such as, in Eng- 
land, would have passed for frightful. 

But all this is by the bye ; for, as to my figure, 
I had so few to observe me that it was of no man- 
ner of consequence; so I say no more to that part. 
In this kind of figure I went my new journey, and 
was out five or six days. I travelled first along the 
seashore, directly to the place where I first brought 
my boat to an anchor, to get upon the rocks; and 
having no boat now to take care of, I went over the 


2i 6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

land, a nearer way, to the same height that I was 
upon before; when, looking forward to the point of 
the rocks which lay out, and which I was obliged 
to double with my boat, as is said above, I was sur- 
prised to see the sea all smooth and quiet; no rip- 
pling, no motion, no current, any more than in any 
other places. I was at a strange loss to understand 
this, and resolved to spend some time in the ob- 
serving it, to see if nothing from the sets of the tide 
had occasioned it ; but I was presently convinced 
how it was, viz., that the tide of ebb, setting from the 
west, and joining with the current of waters from 
some great river on the shore, must be the occa- 
sion of this current ; and that according as the wind 
blew more forcibly from the west or from the north, 
this current came nearer or went farther from the 
shore: for waiting thereabouts till evening, I went 
up to the rock again, and then the tide of ebb being 
made, I plainly saw the current again as before, only 
that it ran farther off, being near half a league from 
the shore ; whereas, in my case, it set close upon the 
shore, and hurried me and my canoe along with it, 
which, at another time, it would not have done. 

This observation convinced me that I had no- 
thing to do but to observe the ebbing and the flow- 
ing of the tide, and I might very easily bring my 
boat about the island again: but when I began to 
think of putting it in practice, I had such a terror 
upon my spirits at the remembrance of the danger 
I had been in that I could not think of it again 
with any patience ; but, on the contrary, I took up 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 217 

another resolution, which was more safe, though 
more laborious; and this was that I would build 
or rather make me another periagua or canoe; and 
so have one for one side of the island and one for 
the other. 

You are to understand that now I had, as I may 
call it, two plantations in the island : one, my little 
fortification or tent with the wall about it, under the 
rock, with the cave behind me, which, by this time, 
I had enlarged into several apartments or caves, 
one within another. One of these, which was the 
driest and largest, and had a door out beyond my 
wall or fortification, that is to say, beyond where 
my wall joined to the rock, was all filled up with 
the large earthen pots, of which I have given an 
account, and with fourteen or fifteen great baskets, 
which would hold five or six bushels each, where 
I laid up my stores of provision, especially my corn, 
some in the ear, cut off short from the straw, and 
the other rubbed out with my hand. 

As for my wall, made, as before, with long stakes 
or piles, these piles grew all like trees, and were 
by this time grown so big, and spread so very much, 
that there was not the least appearance, to any 
one’s view, of any habitation behind them. Near 
this dwelling of mine, but a little farther within the 
land, and upon lower ground, lay my two pieces 
of corn land, which I kept duly cultivated and 
sowed, and which duly yielded me their harvest in 
its season ; and whenever I had occasion for more 
corn, I had more land adjoining as fit as that. 


2l8 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


Besides this, I had my country-seat ; and I had 
now a tolerable plantation there also : for, first, I 
had my little bower, as I called it, which I kept in 
repair ; that is to say, I kept the hedge which en- 
circled it in constantly fitted up to its usual height, 
the ladder standing always in the inside : I kept the 
trees, which at first were no more than my stakes, 
but were now grown very firm and tall, always cut, 
so that they might spread and grow thick and wild, 
and make the more agreeable shade, which they did 
effectually to my mind. In the middle of this I had 
my tent always standing, being a piece of a sail 
spread over poles set up for that purpose, and which 
never wanted any repair or renewing ; and under 
this I had made me a squab or couch, with the 
skins of the creatures I had killed, and with other 
soft things ; and a blanket laid on them, such as 
belonged to our sea-bedding, which I had saved, 
and a great watch-coat to cover me ; and here, 
whenever I had occasion to be absent from my chief 
seat, I took up my country habitation. 

Adjoining to this I had my enclosures for my 
cattle, that is to say, my goats ; and as I had taken 
an inconceivable deal of pains to fence and enclose 
this ground, I was anxious to see it kept so entire, 
lest the goats should break through, that I never 
left off, till, with infinite labour, I had stuck the 
outside of the hedge so full of small stakes, and so 
near to one another, that it was rather a pale than 
a hedge, and there was scarce room to put a hand 
through between them ; which afterwards, when 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


219 

those stakes grew, as they all did in the next rainy 
season, made the enclosure strong like a wall, — 
indeed, stronger than any wall. 

This will testify for me that I was not idle, and 
that I spared no pains to bring to pass whatever 
appeared necessary for my comfortable support ; 
for I considered the keeping-up a breed of tame 
creatures thus at my hand would be a living mag- 
azine of flesh, milk, butter, and cheese for me as 
long as I lived in the place, if it were to be forty 
years ; and that keeping them in my reach de- 
pended entirely upon my perfecting my enclosures 
to such a degree that I might be sure of keeping 
them together ; which, by this method, indeed, I 
so effectually secured that when these little stakes 
began to grow, I had planted them so very thick 
that I was forced to pull some of them up again. 

In this place also I had my grapes growing, 
which I principally depended on for my winter store 
of raisins, and which I never failed to preserve very 
carefully, as the best and most agreeable dainty of 
my whole diet ; and, indeed, they were not only 
agreeable, but medicinal, wholesome, nourishing, 
and refreshing to the last degree. 

As this was also about half-way between my 
other habitation and the place where I had laid up 
my boat, I generally stayed and lay here in my way 
thither : for I used frequently to visit my boat ; 
and I kept all things about or belonging to her 
in very good order. Sometimes I went out in her 
to divert myself, but no more hazardous voyages 


220 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


would I go, nor scarce ever above a stone’s cast or 
two from the shore, I was so apprehensive of being 
hurried out of my knowledge again by the currents 
or winds, or any other accident. — But now I come 
to a new scene of my life. 



I t happened one day, about noon, going towards 
my boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the 
print of a man’s naked foot on the shore, which 
was very plain to be seen in the sand. I stood like 
one thunderstruck, or as if I had seen an appari- 
tion : I listened, I looked round me, but I could 
hear nothing, nor see anything ; I went up to a ris- 
ing ground, to look farther ; I went up the shore 
and down the shore, but it was all one ; I could see 
no other impression but that one. I went to it again 
to see if there were any more, and to observe if it 
might not be my fancy; but there was no room for 
that, for there was exactly the print of a foot, toes, 
heel, and every part of a foot. How it came thither 
I knew not, nor could I in the least imagine ; but, 
after innumerable fluttering thoughts, like a man 
perfectly confused and out of myself, I came home 
to my fortification, not feeling, as we say, the ground 
I went on, but terrified to the last degree ; looking 
behind me at every two or three steps, mistaking 
every bush and tree, and fancying every stump at 


222 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


a distance to be a man. Nor is it possible to de- 
scribe how many various shapes my affrighted imag- 
ination represented things to me in, how many wild 
ideas were found every moment in my fancy, and 
what strange unaccountable whimsies came into my 
thoughts by the way. 

When I came to my castle (for so I think I 
called it ever after this), I fled into it like one pur- 
sued ; whether I went over by the ladder, as first 
contrived, or went in at the hole in the rock, which 
I had called a door, I cannot remember ; no, nor 
could I remember the next morning ; for never 
frightened hare fled to cover or fox to earth with 
more terror of mind than I to this retreat. 

I slept none that night : the farther I was from 
the occasion of my fright, the greater my appre- 
hensions were ; which is something contrary to the 
nature of such things, and especially to the usual 
practice of all creatures in fear ; but I was so em- 
barrassed with my own frightful ideas of the thing 
that I formed nothing but dismal imaginations to 
myself, even though I was now a great way off it. 
Sometimes I fancied it must be the Devil, and rea- 
son joined in with me upon this supposition; for 
how should any other thing in human shape come 
into the place ? Where was the vessel that brought 
them ? What marks were there of any other foot- 
steps ? And how was it possible a man should come 
there ? But then, to think that Satan should take 
human shape upon him in such a place, where there 
could be no manner of occasion for it but to leave 



THE PRINT OF A MAN'S NAKED FOOT ON THE SHORE 








' 



































ROBINSON CRUSOE 


223 

the print of his foot behind him, and that even for 
no purpose too, for he could not be sure I should 
see it, — this was an amusement the other way. I 
considered that the Devil might have found out 
abundance of other ways to have terrified me than 
this of the single print of a foot ; that as I lived 
quite on the other side of the island, he would 
never have been so simple as to leave a mark in 
a place where it was ten thousand to one whether 
I should ever see it or not, and in the sand too, 
which the first surge of the sea, upon a high wind, 
would have defaced entirely; all this seemed incon- 
sistent with the thing itself, and with all the notions 
we usually entertain of the subtlety of the Devil. 

\ Abundance of such things as these assisted to 
argue me out of all apprehensions of its being the 
Devil ; and I presently concluded, then, that it must 
be some more dangerous creature, viz., that it must 
be some of the savages of the main land over against 
me who had wandered out to sea in their canoes, 
and, either driven by the currents or by contrary 
winds, had made the island, and had been on shore, 
but were gone away again to sea ; being as loth, 
perhaps, to have stayed in this desolate island as 
I would have been to have had them. 

' While these reflections were rolling upon my 
mind, I was very thankful in my thoughts that I 
was so happy as not to be thereabouts at that time, 
or that they did not see my boat, by which they 
would have concluded that some inhabitants had 
been in the place, and perhaps have searched farther 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


224 

for me : then terrible thoughts racked my imagina- 
tion about their having found my boat, and that 
there were people here; and that if so, I should 
certainly have them come again in greater numbers, 
and devour me: that if it should happen so that 
they should not find me, yet they would find my 
enclosure, destroy all my corn, and carry away all 
my flock of tame goats, and I should perish at last 
for mere want. 

Thus my fear banished all my religious hope, 
all that former confidence in God, which was founded 
upon such wonderful experience as I had had of 
his goodness, as if he that had fed me by miracle 
hitherto could not preserve, by his power, the pro- 
vision which he had made for me by his goodness. 
I reproached myself with my laziness, that would 
not sow any more corn one year than would just 
serve me till the next season, as if no accident would 
intervene to prevent my enjoying the crop that was 
upon the ground; and this I thought so just a re- 
proof that I resolved for the future to have two 
or three years’ corn beforehand, so that, whatever 
might come, I might not perish for want of bread. 

How strange a chequer-work of Providence is 
the life of man ! and by what secret different springs 
are the affections hurried about, as different circum- 
stances present! To-day we love what to-morrow 
we hate ; to-day we seek what to-morrow we shun ; 
to-day we desire what to-morrow we fear, nay, even 
tremble at the apprehensions of; this was exempli- 
fied in me, at this time, in the most lively manner 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


225 

imaginable; for I, whose only affliction was that 
I seemed banished from human society, that I was 
alone, circumscribed by the boundless ocean, cut 
off from mankind, and condemned to what I called 
silent life; that I was as one whom Heaven thought 
not worthy to be numbered among the living, or 
to appear among the rest of his creatures; that to 
have seen one of my own species would have 
seemed to me a raising me from death to life, and 
the greatest blessing that Heaven itself, next to the 
supreme blessing of salvation, could bestow ; I say, 
that I should now tremble at the very apprehen- 
sions of seeing a man, and was ready to sink into 
the ground at but the shadow or silent appearance 
of a man’s having set his foot in the island. 

^ Such is the uneven state of human life; and it 
afforded me a great many curious speculations after- 
wards, when I had a little recovered my first sur- 
prise. I considered that this was the station of life 
the infinitely wise and good providence of God had 
determined for me ; that as I could not foresee what 
the ends of divine wisdom might be in all this, so 
I was not to dispute his sovereignty, who, as I was 
his creature, had an undoubted right, by crea- 
tion, to govern and dispose of me absolutely as he 
thought fit; and who, as I was a creature that 
had offended him, had likewise a judicial right to 
condemn me to what punishment he thought fit; 
and that it was my part to submit to bear his in- 
dignation, because I had sinned against him. I 
then reflected that as God, who was not only right- 


226 THE ADVENTURES OF 

eous but omnipotent, had thought fit thus to 
punish and afflict me, so he was able to deliver me; 
that if he did not think fit to do so, it was my 
unquestioned duty to resign myself absolutely and 
entirely to his will ; and, on the other hand, it was 
my duty also to hope in him, pray to him, and 
quietly to attend the dictates and directions of his 
daily providence. 

\ These thoughts took me up many hours, days, 
nay, I may say, weeks and months; and one par- 
ticular effect of my cogitations on this occasion I 
cannot omit. One morning early, lying in my bed, 
and filled with thoughts about my danger from the 
appearance of savages, I found it discomposed me 
very much; upon which these words of the Scrip- 
ture came into my thoughts: “ Call upon me in 
the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou 
shalt glorify me.” Upon this, rising cheerfully out 
of my bed, my heart was not only comforted, but 
I was guided and encouraged to pray earnestly to 
God for deliverance: when I had done praying, I 
took up my Bible, and opening it to read, the first 
words that presented to me were, “Wait on the 
Lord, and be of good cheer, and he shall strengthen 
thy heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.” It is impos- 
sible to express the comfort this gave me. In 
answer, I thankfully laid down the book, and was 
no more sad, at least on that occasion. 

In the middle of these cogitations, apprehen- 
sions, and reflections, it came into my thoughts 
one day that all this might be a mere chimera of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


227 

my own, and that this foot might be the print of 
my own foot, when I came on shore from my boat. 
This cheered me up a little too, and I began to 
persuade myself it was all a delusion; that it was 
nothing else but my own foot : and why might I 
not come that way from the boat as well as I was 
going that way to the boat? Again, I considered 
also that I could by no means tell, for certain, 
where I had trod, and where I had not ; and that 
if, at last, this was only the print of my own foot, 
I had played the part of those fools who try to 
make stories of spectres and apparitions, and then 
are frightened at them more than anybody. 

Now I began to take courage, and to peep 
abroad again, for I had not stirred out of my cas- 
tle for three days and nights, so that I began to 
starve for provisions; for I had little or nothing 
within-doors but some barley cakes and water. 
Then I knew that my goats wanted to be milked, 
too, which usually was my evening diversion; and 
the poor creatures were in great pain and incon- 
venience for want of it; and, indeed, it almost 
spoiled some of them, and almost dried up their 
milk. Encouraging myself, therefore, with the 
belief that this was nothing but the print of one 
of my own feet, and that I might be truly said to 
start at my own shadow, I began to go abroad again, 
and went to my country-house to milk my flock: 
but to see with what fear I went forward, how often 
I looked behind me, how I was ready, every now 
and then, to lay down my basket, and run for my 


228 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


life, it would have made any one think I was 
haunted with an evil conscience, or that I had been 
lately most terribly frightened ; and so, indeed, I 
had. However, as I went down thus two or three 
days, and having seen nothing, I began to be a lit- 
tle bolder, and to think there was really nothing 
in it but my own imagination ; but I could not per- 
suade myself fully of this till I should go down to 
the shore again, and see this print of a foot and 
measure it by my own, and see if there was any 
similitude or fitness, that might be assured it was 
my own foot. But when I came to the place, first, it 
appeared evidently to me that when I laid up my 
boat I could not possibly be on shore anywhere 
thereabout; secondly, when I came to measure the 
mark with my own foot, I found my foot not so 
large by a great deal. Both these things filled my 
head with new imaginations, and gave me the 
vapours again to the highest degree, so that I shook 
with cold like one in an ague; and I went home 
again, filled with the belief that some man or men 
had been on shore there; or, in short, that the 
island was inhabited, and I might be surprised 
before I was aware; and what course to take for 
my security I knew not. 

O what ridiculous resolutions men take when 
possessed with fear ! It deprives them of the use 
of those means which reason offers for their relief. 
The first thing I proposed to myself was to throw 
down my enclosures, and turn all my tame cattle 
wild into the woods, lest the enemy should find 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


229 

them, and then frequent the island in prospect of 
the same or the like booty ; then to the simple thing 
of digging up my two corn-fields, lest they should 
find such a grain there, and still be prompted to fre- 
quent the island ; then to demolish my bower and 
tent, that they might not see any vestiges of hab- 
itation, and be prompted to look farther, in order 
to find out the persons inhabiting. 

These were the subject of the first night’s cog- 
itations after I was come home again, while the 
apprehensions which had so overrun my mind were 
fresh upon me, and my head was full of vapours, 
as above\Thus fear of danger is ten thousand times 
more terrifying than danger itself when apparent 
to the eyes ; and we find the burden of anxiety 
greater, by much, than the evil which we are anx- 
ious about ; and, which was worse than all this, I 
had not that relief in this trouble from the resigna- 
tion I used to practise, that I hoped to have. I 
looked, I thought, like Saul, who complained not 
only that the Philistines were upon him, but that 
God had forsaken him ; for I did not now take due 
ways to compose my mind, by crying to God in my 
distress, and resting upon his providence, as I had 
done before, for my defence and deliverance; which, 
if I had done, I had at least been more cheerfully 
supported under this new surprise, and perhaps 
carried through it with more resolution. 

This confusion of my thoughts kept me awake 
all night; but in the morning I fell asleep; and 
having, by the amusement of my mind, been as it 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


230 

were tired, and my spirits exhausted, I slept very 
soundly and waked much better composed than I 
had ever been before. And now I began to think 
sedately ; and, upon the utmost debate with myself, 
I concluded that this island, which was so exceed- 
ing pleasant, fruitful, and no farther from the main 
land than as I had seen, was not so entirely aban- 
doned as I might imagine ; that, although there 
were no stated inhabitants who lived on the spot, 
yet that there might sometimes come boats off 
from the shore, who, either with design, or perhaps 
never but when they were driven by cross-winds, 
might come to this place ; that I had lived here 
fifteen years now, and had not met with the least 
shadow or figure of any people yet ; and that if at 
any time they should be driven here, it was prob- 
able they went away again as soon as ever they 
could, seeing they had never thought fit to fix here 
upon any occasion; that the most I could suggest 
any danger from was from any casual accidental 
landing of straggling people from the main, who,as 
it was likely, if they were driven hither, were here 
against their wills, so they made no stay here, but 
went off again with all possible speed; seldom stay- 
ing one night on shore, lest they should not have 
the help of the tides and daylight back again; and 
that, therefore, I had nothing to do but to consider 
of some safe retreat, in case I should see any sav- 
ages land upon the spot. 

Now I began sorely to repent that I had dug 
my cave so large as to bring a door through again, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


231 

which door, as I said, came out beyond where my 
fortification joined to the rock: upon maturely con- 
sidering this, therefore, I resolved to draw me a 
second fortification, in the same manner of a semi- 
circle, at a distance from my wall, just where I had 
planted a double row of trees about twelve years 
before, of which I made mention. These trees hav- 
ing been planted so thick before, they wanted but 
few piles to be driven between them that they might 
be thicker and stronger, and my wall would be soon 
finished : so that I had now a double wall ; and my 
outer wall was thickened with pieces of timber, old 
cables, and everything I could think of, to make it 
strong, having in it seven little holes about as big 
as I might put my arm out at. In the inside of this, 
I thickened my wall to about ten feet thick, with 
continually bringing earth out of my cave, and lay- 
ing it at the foot of the wall, and walking upon it; 
and through the seven holes I contrived to plant 
the muskets, of which I took notice that I had got 
seven on shore out of the ship; these I planted 
like my cannon, and fitted them into frames, that 
held them like a carriage, so that I could fire all the 
seven guns in two minutes’ time. This wall I was 
many a weary month in finishing, and yet never 
thought myself safe till it was done. 

When this was done, I stuck all the ground 
without my wall, for a great length every way, as 
full with stakes, or sticks, of the osier-like wood, 
which I found so apt to grow, as they could well 
stand ; insomuch that I believe I might set in near 


232 THE ADVENTURES OF 

twenty thousand of them, leaving a pretty large 
space between them and my wall, that I might have 
room to see an enemy, and they might have no 
shelter from the young trees, if they attempted to 
approach my outer wall. 

Thus, in two years' time, I had a thick grove ; 
and in five or six years’time I had a wood before my 
dwelling, growing so monstrous thick and strong 
that it was indeed perfectly impassable; and no 
men, of what kind soever, would ever imagine 
that there was anything beyond it, much less a 
habitation. As for the way which I proposed to 
myself to go in and out (for I left no avenue), it 
was by setting two ladders, one to a part of the 
rock which was low, and then broke in, and left 
room to place another ladder upon that: so when 
the two ladders were taken down, no man living 
could come down to me without doing himself mis- 
chief; and if they had come down, they were still 
on the outside of my outer wall. 

Thus I took all the measures human prudence 
could suggest for my own preservation ; and it will 
be seen, at length, that they were not altogether 
without just reason, though I foresaw nothing at 
that time more than my mere fear suggested to me. 

While this was doing, I was not altogether care- 
less of my other affairs: for I had a great concern 
upon me for my little herd of goats ; they were not 
only a ready supply to me on every occasion, and 
began to be sufficient for me, without the expense 
of powder and shot, but also without the fatigue 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


2 33 

of hunting after the wild ones; and I was loth to 
lose the advantage of them, and to have them all 
to nurse up over again. 

For this purpose, after long consideration, I 
could think of but two ways to preserve them : one 
was, to find another convenient place to dig a cave 
under ground, and to drive them into it every 
night; and the other was, to enclose two or three 
little bits of land, remote from one another, and 
as much concealed as I could, where I might keep 
about half a dozen young goats in each place : so 
that if any disaster happened to the flock in gen- 
eral, I might be able to raise them again with little 
trouble and time; and this, though it would require 
a great deal of time and labour, I thought was the 
most rational design. 

Accordingly, I spent some time to find out the 
most retired parts of the island; and I pitched 
upon one which was as private, indeed, as my heart 
could wish for : it was a little damp piece of ground, 
in the middle of the hollow and thick woods, where, 
as is observed, I almost lost myself once before, 
endeavouring to come back that way from the east- 
ern part of the island. Here I found a clear piece 
of land, near three acres, so surrounded with woods 
that it was almost an enclosure by nature; at least, 
it did not want near so much labour to make it 
so as the other pieces of ground I had worked so 
hard at. 



1 immediately went to work with this piece of 
ground, and in less than a month’s time I had 
so fenced it round that my flock, or herd, call it 
which you please, who were not so wild now as 
at first they might be supposed to be, were well 
enough secured in it; so, without any further de- 
lay, I removed ten young she-goats and two he- 
goats to this piece; and when they were there, I 
continued to perfect the fence till J had made it as 
secure as the other, which, however, I did at more 
leisure, and it took me up more time by a great 
deal. All this labour I was at the expense of purely 
from my apprehensions on the account of the print 
of a man’s foot which I had seen; for, as yet, I never 
saw any human creature come near the island ; 
and I had now lived two years under this uneasi- 
ness, which, indeed, made my life much less com- 
fortable than it was before, as may be well im- 
agined by any who know what it is to live in the 
constant snare of the fear of man. And this I must 
observe, with grief too, that the discomposure of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


235 

my mind had too great impressions also upon the 
religious part of my thoughts; for the dread and 
terror of falling into the hands of savages and can- 
nibals lay so upon my spirits that I seldom found 
myself in a due temper for application to my 
Maker, at least not with the sedate calmness and 
resignation of soul which I was wont to do : I rather 
prayed to God as under great affliction and press- 
ure of mind, surrounded with danger, and in ex- 
pectation every night of being murdered and de- 
voured before morning; and I must testify from 
my experience that a temper of peace, thankful- 
ness, love, and affection is much the more proper 
frame for prayer than that of terror and discom- 
posure; and that, under the dread of mischief im- 
pending, a man is no more fit for a comforting 
performance of the duty of praying to God than 
he is for a repentance on a sick-bed ; for these dis- 
composures affect the mind, as the others do the 
body ; and the discomposure of the mind must 
necessarily be as great a disability as that of the 
body, and much greater : praying to God being 
properly an act of the mind, not of the body. 

\ But to go on : after I had thus secured one part 
of my little living stock, I went about the whole 
island, searching for another private place to make 
such another deposit; when, wandering more to 
the west point of the island than I had ever done 
yet, and looking out to sea, I thought I saw a boat 
upon the sea, at a great distance. I had found a per- 
spective glass or two in one of the seaman s chests 


i 3 6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

which I saved out of our ship, but I had it not 
about me ; and this was so remote that I could 
not tell what to make of it, though I looked at it 
till my eyes were not able to look any longer. 
Whether it was a boat or not, I do not know, but 
as I descended from the hill I could see no more 
of it; so I gave it over; only I resolved to go no 
more out without a perspective glass in my pocket. 
When I was come down the hill to the end of the 
island, where, indeed, I had never been before, I 
was presently convinced that the seeing the print 
of a man’s foot was not such a strange thing in the 
island as I imagined : and, but that it was a special 
providence that I was cast upon the side of the 
island where the savages never came, I should 
easily have known that nothing was more frequent 
than for the canoes from the main, when they hap- 
pened to be a little too far out at sea, to shoot over 
to that side of the island for harbour; likewise, as 
they often met and fought in their canoes, the 
victors, having taken any prisoners, would bring 
them over to this shore, where, according to their 
dreadful customs, being all cannibals, they would 
kill and eat them ; of which hereafter. 

\ When I was come down the hill to the shore, as 
I said above, being the south-west point of the 
island, I was perfectly confounded andamazed ; nor 
is it possible for me to express the horror of my 
mind at seeing the shore spread with skulls, hands, 
feet, and other bones of human bodies ; and, par- 
ticularly, I observed a place where there had been 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


2 37 

a fire made, and a circle dug in the earth, like a 
cock-pit, where I supposed the savage wretches had 
sat down to their inhuman feastings upon the bodies 
of their fellow-creatures. 

I was so astonished with the sight of these things 
that I entertained no notions of any danger to my- 
self from it for a long while : all my apprehensions 
were buried in the thoughts of such a pitch of 
inhuman, hellish brutality, and the horror of the 
degeneracy of human nature, which, though I had 
heard of it often, yet I never had so near a view of 
before : in short, I turned away my face from the 
horrid spectacle ; my stomach grew sick, and I was 
just at the point of fainting when nature discharged 
the disorder from my stomach : and having vom- 
ited with uncommon violence, I was a little relieved, 
but could not bear to stay in the place a moment; 
so I got me up the hill again with all the speed I 
could, and walked on towards my own habitation. 
\ When I came a little out of that part of the 
island, I stood still a while, as amazed, and then, 
recovering myself, I looked up with the utmost 
affection of my soul, and, with a flood of tears in 
my eyes, gave God thanks that had cast my first lot 
in a part of the world where I was distinguished 
from such dreadful creatures as these ; and that, 
though I had esteemed my present condition very 
miserable, had yet given me so many comforts in 
it that I had still more to give thanks for than to 
complain of: and this, above all, that I had, even 
in this miserable condition been comforted with 


238 THE ADVENTURES OF 

the knowledge of himself, and the hope of his 
blessing, which was a felicity more than sufficiently 
equivalent to all the misery which I had suffered 
or could suffer. 

In this frame of thankfulness I went home to 
my castle, and began to be much easier now, as 
to the safety of my circumstances, than ever I was 
before: for I observed that these wretches never 
came to this island in search of what they could get ; 
perhaps not seeking, not wanting, or not expecting, 
anything here, and having often, no doubt, been up 
in the covered woody part of it, without finding 
anything to their purpose. I knew I had been here 
now almost eighteen years, and never saw the least 
footsteps of human creature there before ; and I 
might be eighteen years more as entirely concealed 
as I was now if I did not discover myself to them, 
which I had no manner of occasion to do; it being 
my only business to keep myself entirely concealed 
where I was, unless I found a better sort of crea- 
tures than cannibals to make myself known to. 
Yet I entertained such an abhorrence of the savage 
wretches that I have been speaking of, and of the 
wretched inhuman custom of their devouring and 
eating one another up, that I continued pensive 
and sad, and kept close within my own circle, for 
almost two years after this. When I say my own 
circle, I mean by it my three plantations, viz., my 
castle, my country-seat, which I called my bower, 
and my enclosure in the woods ; nor did I look 
after this for any other use than as an enclosure for 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


2 39 

my goats ; for the aversion which nature gave me 
to these hellish wretches was such that I was as 
fearful of seeing them as of seeing the Devil him- 
self. I did not so much as go to look after my 
boat all this time, but began rather to think of 
making me another ; for I could not think of ever 
making any more attempts to bring the other boat 
round the island to me, lest I should meet with 
some of these creatures at sea : in which, if I had 
happened to have fallen into their hands, I knew 
what would have been my lot. 

Time, however, and the satisfaction I had that 
I was in no danger of being discovered by these 
people, began to wear off my uneasiness about 
them ; and I began to live just in the same com- 
posed manner as before, only with this difference, 
that I used more caution, and kept my eyes more 
about me, than I did before, lest I should happen 
to be seen by any of them ; and particularly, I was 
more cautious of firing my gun, lest any of them 
being on the island should happen to hear it. It 
was therefore a very good providence to me that 
I had furnished myself with a tame breed of goats, 
and that I had no need to hunt any more about 
the woods, or shoot at them ; and if I did catch 
any of them after this, it was by traps and snares, 
as I had done before ; so that for two years after 
this, I believe I never fired my gun once off, 
though I never went out without it ; and, which 
was more, as I had saved three pistols out of the 
ship, I always carried them out with me, or at 


2 4 o THE ADVENTURES OF 

least two of them, sticking them in my goatVskin 
belt. I also furbished up one of the great cutlasses 
that I had out of the ship, and made me a belt to 
hang it on also; so that I was now a most formid- 
able fellow to look at when I went abroad, if you 
add to the former description of myself the par- 
ticular of two pistols, and a great broad sword hang- 
ing at my side in a belt, but without a scabbard. 

Things going on thus, as I have said, for some 
time, I seemed, excepting these cautions, to be re- 
duced to my former calm sedate way of living. All 
these things tended to show me, more and more, 
how far my condition was from being miserable, 
compared to some others; nay, to many other par- 
ticulars of life which it might have pleased God to 
have made my lot. It put me upon reflecting how 
little repining there would be among mankind at 
any condition of life if people would rather com- 
pare their condition with those that were worse, in 
orderto be thankful, than be always comparing them 
with those which are better, to assist their murmur- 
ings and complainings. 

As in my present condition there were not really 
many things which I wanted, so, indeed, I thought 
that the frights I had been in about these savage 
wretches, and the concern I had been in for my own 
preservation, had taken off the edge of my inven- 
tion for my own conveniences; and I had dropped 
a good design, which I had once bent my thoughts 
too much upon, and that was to try if I could not 
make some of my barley into malt, and then try 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


241 

to brew myself some beer. This was really a whim- 
sical thought, and I reproved myself often for the 
simplicity of it ; for I presently saw there would 
be the want of several things necessary to the 
making my beer, that it would be impossible for 
me to supply ; as, first, casks to preserve it in, 
which was a thing that, as I had observed already, 
I could never compass ; no, though I spent not 
only many days, but weeks, nay, months, in at- 
tempting it, but to no purpose. In the next place, 
I had no hops to make it keep, no yeast to make 
it work, no copper or kettle to make it boil ; and 
yet, with all these things wanting, I verily believe, 
had not the frights and terrors I was in about the 
savages intervened, I had undertaken it, and per- 
haps brought it to pass too; for I seldom gave any- 
thing over without accomplishing it, when once I 
had it in my head to begin it. But my invention 
now ran quite another way; for, night and day, I 
could think of nothing but how I might destroy 
some of these monsters in their cruel, bloody en- 
tertainment, and, if possible, save the victim they 
should bring hither to destroy. It would take up 
a larger volume than this whole work is intended 
to be, to set down all the contrivances I hatched, 
or rather brooded upon, in my thoughts, for the 
destroying these creatures, of at least frightening 
them so as to prevent their coming hither any 
more; but all this was abortive; nothing could be 
possible to take effect, unless I was to be there to 
do it myself ; and what could one man do among 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


242 

them, when perhaps there might be twenty or thirty 
of them together, with their darts, or their bows and 
arrows, with which they could shoot as true to a 
mark as I could with my gun? 

Sometimes I thought of digging a hole under 
the place where they made their fire, and putting 
in five or six pounds of gunpowder, which, when 
they kindled their fire, would consequently take 
fire, and blow up all that was near it ; but as, in 
the first place, I should' be unwilling to waste so 
much powder upon them, my store being now 
within the quantity of one barrel, so neither could 
I be sure of its going-off at any certain time, when 
it might surprise them : and, at best, that it would 
do little more than just blow the fire about their 
ears and fright them, but not sufficient to make 
them forsake the place. So I laid it aside, and then 
proposed that I would place myself in ambush in 
some convenient place, with my three guns all 
double-loaded, and, in the middle of their bloody 
ceremony, let fly at them, when I should be sure 
to kill or wound perhaps two or three at every 
shot : and then falling in upon them with my three 
pistols, and my sword, I made no doubt but that, 
if there were twenty, I should kill them all. This 
fancy pleased my thoughts for some weeks ; and I 
was so full of it that I often dreamed of it, and 
sometimes that I was just going to let fly at them 
in my sleep. I went so far with it in my imagina- 
tion that I employed myself several days to find 
out proper places to put myself in ambuscade, as 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


2 43 

I said, to watch for them ; and I went frequently to 
the place itself, which was now grown more famil- 
iar to me. But while my mind was thus filled with 
thoughts of revenge, and a bloody putting twenty 
or thirty of them to the sword, as I may call it, the 
horror I had at the place, and at the signals of the 
barbarous wretches devouring one another, abated 
my malice. Well, at length, I found a place in 
the side of the hill, where I was satisfied I might 
securely wait till I saw any of their boats coming; 
and might then, even before they would be ready 
to come on shore, convey myself, unseen, into some 
thickets of trees, in one of which there was a hollow 
large enough to conceal me entirely; and there I 
might sit and observe all their bloody doings, and 
take my full aim at their heads, when they were so 
close together as that it would be next to impossi- 
ble that I should miss my shot, or that I could fail 
wounding three or four of them at the firstshot. In 
this place, then, I resolved to fix my design ; and, 
accordingly, I prepared two muskets and my ordin- 
ary fowling-piece. The two muskets I loaded with 
a brace of slugs each, and four or five smaller bul- 
lets, about the size of pistol-bullets ; and the fowl- 
ing-piece I loaded with near a handful of swan-shot 
of the largest size : I also loaded my pistols with 
about four bullets each; and in this posture, well 
provided with ammunition for a second and third 
charge, I prepared myself for my expedition. 

After I had thus laid the scheme of my design, 
and, in my imagination, put it in practice, I con- 


2 44 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


tinually made my tour every morning up to the top 
of the hill, which was from my castle, as I called it, 
about three miles, or more, to see if I could observe 
any boats upon the sea, coming near the island, or 
standing over towards it : but I began to tire of this 
hard duty, after I had, for two or three months, 
constantly kept my watch, but came always back 
without any discovery : there having not, in all that 
time, been the least appearance, not only on or near 
the shore, but on the whole ocean, so far as my eyes 
or glasses could reach every way. 

: As long as I kept my daily tour to the hill to look 
out, so long also I kept up the vigour of my design, 
and my spirits seemed to be all the while in a suit- 
able form for so outrageous an execution as the kill- 
ing twenty or thirty naked savages, for an offence 
which I had not at all entered into a discussion of 
in my thoughts, any further than my passions were 
at first fired by the horror I conceived at the un- 
natural custom of the people of that country, who, 
it seems, had been suffered by Providence, in his 
wise disposition of the world, to have no other guide 
than that of their own abominable and vitiated pas- 
sions ; and, consequently, were left, and perhaps had 
been so for some ages, to act such horrid things, 
and receive such dreadful customs, as nothing but 
nature, entirely abandoned by Heaven, and actu- 
ated by some hellish degeneracy, could have run 
them into. But now, when, as I have said, I began 
to be weary of the fruitless excursion which I had 
made so long and so far every morning in vain, so 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 245 

my opinion of the action itself began to alter ; and 
I began, with cooler and calmer thoughts, to con- 
sider what I was going to engage in : what authority 
or call I had to pretend to be judge and executioner 
upon these men as criminals, whom Heaven had 
thought fit, for so many ages, to suffer, unpunished, 
to go on, and to be, as it were, the executioners of 
his judgments one upon another; how far these 
people were offenders against me, and what right 
I had to engage in the quarrel of that blood which 
they shed promiscuously one upon another. I de- 
bated this very often with myself, thus: How do 
I know what God himself judges in this particular 
case ? It is certain these people do not commit this 
as a crime; it is not against their own consciences 
reproving, or their light reproaching them ; they do 
not know it to be an offence, and then commit it in 
defiance of divine justice, as we do in almost all the 
sins we commit. They think it no more a crime to 
kill a captive taken in war than we do to kill an 
ox ; nor to eat human flesh than we do to eat 
mutton. 

When I considered this a little, it followed nec- 
essarily that I was certainly in the wrong in it ; that 
these people were not murderers in the sense that 
I had before condemned them in my thoughts, any 
more than those Christians were murderers who 
often put to death the prisoners taken in battle ; or 
more frequently, upon many occasions, put whole 
troops of men to the sword, without giving quarter, 
though they threw down their arms and submitted. 


246 THE ADVENTURES OF 

In the next place, it occurred to me that, although 
the usage they gave one another was thus brutish 
and inhuman, yet it was really nothing to me; these 
people had done me no injury; that if they at- 
tempted me, or I saw it necessary, for my immedi- 
ate preservation, to fall upon them, something might 
be said for it ; but that I was yet out of their power, 
and they really had no knowledge of me, and conse- 
quently no design upon me; and therefore it could 
not be just for me to fall upon them ; that this would 
justify the conduct of the Spaniards in all their bar- 
barities practised in America, where they destroyed 
millions of these people ; who, however they were 
idolaters and barbarians, and had several bloody 
and barbarous rites in their customs, such as sacri- 
ficing human bodies to their idols, were yet, as to 
the Spaniards, very innocent people ; and that the 
rooting them out of the country is spoken of with 
the utmost abhorrence and detestation by even the 
Spaniards themselves at this time, and by all other 
Christian nations in Europe, as a mere butchery, 
a bloody and unnatural piece of cruelty, unjusti- 
fiable either to God or man, and for which the very 
name of a Spaniard is reckoned to be frightful and 
terrible to all people of humanity, or of Christian 
compassion, — as if the kingdom of Spain were 
particularly eminent for the produce of a race of 
men who were without principles of tenderness, or 
the common bowels of pity to the miserable, which 
is reckoned to be a mark of generous temper in the 
mind. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


247 

These considerations really put me to a pause, 
and to a kind of a full stop; and I began, by little 
and little, to be off my design, and to conclude 
I had taken wrong measures in my resolution to 
attack the savages ; and that it was not my busi- 
ness to meddle with them, unless they first attacked 
me; and that it was my business, if possible, to 
prevent; but that if I were discovered and at- 
tacked by them, I knew my duty. On the other 
hand, I argued with myself that this really was the 
way not to deliver myself, but entirely to ruin and 
destroy myself; for unless I was sure to kill every 
one that not only should be onshore at that time, 
but that should ever come on shore afterwards, 
if but one of them escaped to tell their country- 
people what had happened, they would come over 
again by thousands to revenge the death of their 
fellows, and I should only bring upon myself a 
certain destruction, which, at present, I had no 
manner of occasion for. Upon the whole I con- 
cluded that neither in principle nor in policy I 
ought, one way or other, to concern myself in this 
affair; that my business was, by all possible means, 
to conceal myself from them, and not to leave the 
least signal to them to guess by that there were any 
living creatures upon the island, I mean of human 
shape. Religion joined in with this prudential 
resolution, and I was convinced now, many ways, 
that I was perfectly out of my duty when I was 
laying all my bloody schemes for the destruction 
of innocent creatures, I mean innocent as to me. 


2 4 8 ROBINSON CRUSOE 

As to the crimes they were guilty of towards one 
another, I had nothing to do with them ; they 
were national, and I ought to leave them to the 
justice of God, who is the governor of nations, 
and knows how, by national punishments, to make 
a just retribution for national offences, and to bring 
public judgments upon those who offend in a pub- 
lic manner, by such ways as best please him. This 
appeared so clear to me now that nothing was a 
greater satisfaction to me than that I had not been 
suffered to do a thing which I now saw so much 
reason to believe would have been no less a sin 
than that of wilful murder, if I had committed it; 
and I gave most humble thanks on my knees to 
God that had thus delivered me from blood-guilti- 
ness; beseeching him to grant me the protection 
of his providence, that I might not fall into the 
hands of the barbarians, or that I might not lay my 
hands upon them, unless I had a more clear call 
from Heaven to do it, in defence of my own life. 



I n this disposition I continued for near a year 
after this ; and so far was I from desiring an 
occasion for falling upon these wretches that in 
all that time I never once went up the hill to see 
whether there were any of them in sight, or to know 
whether any of them had been on shore there or 
not, that I might not be tempted to renew any of 
my contrivances against them, or be provoked, 
by any advantage which might present itself, to 
fall upon them. Only this I did: I went and re- 
moved my boat, which I had on the other side of 
the island, and carried it down to the east end 
of the whole island, where I ran it into a little cove 
which I found under some high rocks, and where 
I knew, by reason of the currents, the savages durst 
not, at least would not, come with their boats upon 
any account whatever. With my boat I carried 
away everything that I had left there belonging to 
her, though not necessary for the bare going thither ; 
viz., a mast and sail which I had made for her, and 
a thing like an anchor, but which, indeed, could 


250 THE ADVENTURES OF 

not be called either anchor or grapnel ; however, it 
was the best I could make of its kind; all these I 
removed, that there might not be the least shadow 
of any discovery, or any appearance of any boat, 
or of any human habitation, upon the island. Be- 
sides this, I kept myself, as I said, more retired 
than ever, and seldom went from my cell, other 
than upon my constant employment, viz., to milk 
my she-goats,. and manage my little flock in the 
wood, which, as it was quite on the other part of 
the island, was quite out of danger; for certain it is 
that these savage people, who sometimes haunted 
this island, never came with any thoughts of find- 
ing anything here, and consequently never wan- 
dered off from the coast: and I doubt not but they 
might have been several times on shore after my 
apprehensions of them had made me cautious, as 
well as before. Indeed, I looked back with some hor- 
ror upon the thoughts of what my condition would 
have been if I had popped upon them and been 
discovered before that, when, naked and unarmed, 
except with one gun, and that loaded often only 
with small shot, I walked everywhere, peeping and 
peering about the island to see what I could get; 
what a surprise should I have been in if, when 
I discovered the print of a man’s foot, I had, in- 
stead of that, seen fifteen or twenty savages, and 
found them pursuing me, and, by the swiftness of 
their running, no possibility of my escaping them ? 
The thoughts of this sometimes sunk my very soul 
within me, and distressed my mind so much that 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


251 

I could not soon recover it, to think what I should 
have done, and how I should not only have been 
unable to resist them, but even should not have 
had presence of mind enough to do what I might 
have done, much less what now, after so much con- 
sideration and preparation, I might be able to do. 
Indeed, after serious thinking on these things, I 
would be very melancholy, and sometimes it would 
last a great while; but I resolved it all, at last, into 
thankfulness to that Providence which had deliv- 
ered me from so many unseen dangers, and had 
kept from me those mischiefs which I could have 
no way been the agent in delivering myself from, 
because I had not the least notion of any such 
thing depending, or the least supposition of its be- 
ing possible. This renewed a contemplation which 
often had come to my thoughts in former time, 
when first I began to see the merciful dispositions 
of Heaven in the dangers we run through in this 
life; how wonderfully we are delivered when we 
know nothing of it; how, when we are in (a quan- 
dary, as we call it) a doubt or hesitation, whether 
to go this way, or that way, a secret hint shall 
direct us this way when we intended to go that way ; 
nay, when sense, our own inclination, and perhaps 
business, has called to go the other way, yet a strange 
impression upon the mind, from we know not what 
springs, and by we know not what power, shall 
overrule us to go this way; and it shall afterwards 
appear that had we gone that way which we should 
have gone, and even to our imagination ought to 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


252 

have gone, we should have been ruined and lost. 
Upon these, and many like reflections,! afterwards 
made it a certain rule with me that whenever I 
found those secret hints or pressings of mind, to 
doing or not doing anything that presented, or 
going this way or that way, I never failed to obey 
the secret dictate; though I knew no other reason 
for it than that such a pressure, or such a hint, 
hung upon my mind. I could give many examples 
of the success of this conduct in the course of my 
life, but more especially in the latter part of my in- 
habiting this unhappy island ; besides many occa- 
sions which it is very likely I might have taken 
notice of if I had seen with the same eyes then 
that I see with now. But it is never too late to be 
wise; and I cannot but advise all considering men, 
whose lives are attended with such extraordinary 
incidents as mine, or even though not so extraor- 
dinary, not to slight such secret intimations of 
Providence, let them come from what invisible 
intelligence they will. That I shall not discuss and 
perhaps cannot account for; but certainly they are 
a proof of the converse of spirits, and a secret com- 
munication between those embodied and those 
unembodied, and such a proof as can never be 
withstood; of which I shall have occasion to give 
some very remarkable instances in the remainder 
of my solitary residence in this dismal place. 

I believe the reader of this will not think it strange 
if I confess that these anxieties, these constant dan- 
gers I lived in, and the concern that was now upon 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


2 53 

me, put an end to all invention, and to all the con- 
trivances that I had laid for my future accommoda- 
tions and conveniences. I had the care of my safety 
more now upon my hands than that of my food. I 
cared not to drive a nail, or chop a stick of wood 
now, for fear the noise I might make should be heard ; 
much less would I fire a gun, for the same reason: 
and, above all, I was intolerably uneasy at making 
any fire, lest the smoke, which is visible at a great 
distance in the day, should betray me. For this reason 
I removed that part of my business which required 
fire, such as burning of pots and pipes, etc., into my 
new apartment in the woods; where, after I had been 
some time, I found, to my unspeakable consolation, 
a mere natural cave in the earth, which went in 
a vast way, and where, I dare say, no savage, had 
he been at the mouth of it, would be so hardy as 
to venture in ; nor, indeed, would any man else, 
but one who, like me, wanted nothing so much 
as a safe retreat. 

The mouth of this hollow was at the bottom of 
a great rock, where by mere accident (I would say, 
if I did not see abundant reason to ascribe all such 
things now to Providence) I was cutting down some 
thick branches of trees to make charcoal. And, be- 
fore I go on, I must observe the reason of my mak- 
ing this charcoal, which was this : I was afraid of 
making a smoke about my habitation, as I said be- 
fore ; and yet I could not live there without baking 
my bread, cooking my meat, etc. ; so I contrived 
to burn some wood here, as I had seen done in Eng- 


254 THE ADVENTURES OF 

land, under turf, till it became chark, or dry coal : 
and then putting the fire out, I preserved the coal 
to carry home, and perform the other services for 
which fire was wanting, without danger of smoke. 
But this is by the by. While I was cutting down 
some wood here, I perceived that, behind a very 
thick branch of low brushwood or underwood, there 
was a kind of hollow place. I was curious to look 
in it, and getting with difficulty into the mouth of 
it, I found it was pretty large, that is to say, suf- 
ficient for me to stand upright in it, and perhaps 
another with me ; but I must confess to you that I 
made more haste out than I did in, when, looking 
farther into the place, and which was perfectly dark, 
I saw two broad shining eyes of some creature, 
whether devil or man I knew not, which twinkled 
like two stars, the dim light from the cave’s mouth 
shining directly in, and making the reflection. How- 
ever, after some pause, I recovered myself, and 
began to call myself a thousand fools, and to think 
that he that was afraid to see the Devil was not fit 
to live twenty years in an island all alone ; and that 
I might well think there was nothing in this cave 
that was more frightful than myself. Upon this, 
plucking up my courage, I took up a firebrand, 
and in I rushed again, with the stick flaming in 
my hand. I had not gone three steps in but I was 
almost as much frightened as I was before ; for I 
heard a very loud sigh, like that of a man in some 
pain, and it was followed by a broken noise, as of 
words half-expressed, and then a deep sigh again. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


2 55 

I stepped back, and was indeed struck with such 
a surprise that it put me into a cold sweat; and if 
I had had a hat on my head I will not answer for it 
that my hair might not have lifted it off. But still 
plucking up my spirits as well as I could, and en- 
couraging myself a little with considering that the 
power and presence of God was everywhere, and 
was able to protect me, upon this I stepped for- 
ward again, and by the light of the firebrand, hold- 
ing it up a little over my head, I saw lying on the 
ground a most monstrous, frightful, old he-goat, 
just making his will, as we say, and gasping for life, 
and dying, indeed, of mere old age. I stirred him 
a little to see if I could get him out, and he es- 
sayed to get up, but was not able to raise himself; 
and I thought with myself he might even lie there ; 
for if he had frightened me, so he would certainly 
fright any of the savages if any of them should be 
so hardy as to come in there while he had any life 
in him. 

I was now recovered from my surprise, and began 
to look round me, when I found the cave was very 
small, that is to say, it might be about twelve feet 
over, but in no manner of shape, neither round nor 
square, no hands having ever been employed in 
making it but those of mere Nature. I observed 
also that there was a place at the farther side of it 
that went in further, but was so low that it required 
me to creep upon my hands and knees to go into 
it, and whither it went I knew not; so having no 
candle, I gave it over for that time ; but resolved 


2 S 6 the adventures of 

to come again the next day, provided with candles 
and a tinder-box which I had made of the lock 
of one of the muskets, with some wildfire in the 
pan. 

Accordingly, the next day I came provided with 
six large candles of my own making (for I made 
very good candles now of goat’s tallow, but was hard 
set for candle-wick, using sometimes rags or rope- 
yarn, and sometimes the dried rind of a weed like 
nettles) ; and going into this low place I was obliged 
to creep upon all fours, as I have said, almost ten 
yards ; which, by the way, I thought was a venture 
bold enough, considering that I knew not how far 
it might go, nor what was beyond it. When I had 
got through the strait, I found the roof rose higher 
up, I believe near twenty feet ; but never was such 
a glorious sight seen in the island, I dare say, as it 
was to look round the sides and roof of this vault 
or cave ; the wall reflected a hundred thousand 
lights to me from my two candles. What it was in 
the rock, whether diamonds, or any other precious 
stones, or gold, which I rather supposed it to be, 
I knew not. The place I was in was a most de- 
lightful cavity or grotto of its kind, as could be ex- 
pected, though perfectly dark ; the floor was dry and 
level, and had a sort of a small loose gravel upon 
it, so that there was no nauseous or venomous crea- 
ture to be seen, neither was there any damp or wet 
on the sides or roof : the only difficulty in it was 
the entrance; which, however, as it was a place of 
security, and such a retreat as I wanted, I thought 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


257 

that was a convenience ; so that I was really re- 
joiced at the discovery, and resolved, without any 
delay, to bring some of those things which I was 
most anxious about to this place. Particularly I re- 
solved to bring hither my magazine of powder, and 
all my spare arms, viz., two fowling-pieces, for I had 
three in all, and three muskets, for of them I had 
eight in all ; so I kept at my castle only five, which 
stood ready-mounted like pieces of cannon, on my 
outmost fence, and were ready also to take out 
upon any expedition. Upon this occasion of re- 
moving my ammunition, I happened to open the 
barrel of powder which I took up out of the sea, 
and which had been wet ; and I found that the 
water had penetrated about three or four inches 
into the powder on every side, which caking and 
growing hard, had preserved the inside like 
a kernel in the shell ; so that I had near sixty 
pounds of very good powder in the centre of the 
cask. This was a very agreeable discovery to me 
at that time; so I carried all away thither, never 
keeping above two or three pounds of powder 
with me in my castle for fear of a surprise of any 
kind ; I also carried thither all the lead I had left 
for bullets. 

I fancied myself now like one of the ancient 
giants, which were said to live in caves and holes 
in the rocks, where none could come at them ; for 
I persuaded myself, while I was here, that if five 
hundred savages were to hunt me, they could never 
find me out ; or if they did, they would not ven- 


258 THE ADVENTURES OF 

ture to attack me here. The old goat, whom I found 
expiring, died in the mouth of the cave the next 
day after I made this discovery ; and I found it 
much easier to dig a great hole there, and throw 
him in and cover him with earth, than to drag him 
out ; so I interred him there, to prevent offence to 
my nose. 

I was now in the twenty-third year of my resid- 
ence in this island, and was so naturalized to the 
place and the manner of living that, could I have 
but enjoyed the certainty that no savages would 
come to the place to disturb me, I could have been 
content to have capitulated for spending the rest 
of my time there, even to the last moment, till I 
had laid me down and died, like the old goat in the 
cave. I had also arrived to some little diversions 
and amusements, which made the time pass a great 
deal more pleasantly with me than it did before : as, 
first, I had taught my Poll, as I noted before, to 
speak ; and he did it so familiarly, and talked so 
articulately and plain, that it was very pleasant to 
me ; for I believe no bird ever spoke plainer ; and 
he lived with me no less than six-and-twenty years. 
How long he might have lived afterwards I know 
not, though I know they have a notion in the Bra- 
zils that they live a hundred years. My dog was a 
very pleasant and loving companion to me for no 
less than sixteen years of my time, and then died 
of mere old age. As for my cats, they multiplied, 
as I have observed, to that degree, that I was 
obliged to shoot several of them at first, to keep 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 259 

them from devouring me and all I had ; but at 
length, when the two old ones I brought with me 
were gone, and after some time continually driving 
them from me, and letting them have no provision 
with me, they all ran wild into the woods, except 
two or three favourites, which I kept tame, and 
whose young, when they had any, I always drowned ; 
and these were part of my family. Besides these, I 
always kept two or three household kids about me, 
which I taught to feed out of my hand ; and I had 
two more parrots, which talked pretty well, and 
would all call “ Robin Crusoe/’ but none like my 
first; nor, indeed, did I take the pains with any 
of them that I had done with him. I had also sev- 
eral tame seafowls, whose names I knew not, that 
I caught upon the shore, and cut their wings ; and 
the little stakes which I had planted before my 
castle-wall being now grown up to a good thick 
grove, these fowls all lived among these low trees, 
and bred there, which was very agreeable to me : 
so that, as I said above, I began to be very well 
contented with the life I led, if I could have been 
secured from the dread of the savages. But it was 
otherwise directed ; and it may not be amiss for 
all people who shall meet with my story to make 
this just observation from it, viz., how frequently, 
in the course of our lives, the evil which in itself we 
seek most to shun, and which, when we are fallen 
into, is the most dreadful to us, is oftentimes the 
very means or door of our deliverance, by which 
alone we can be raised again from the affliction we 


260 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


are fallen into. I could give many examples of this 
in the course of my unaccountable life, but in 
nothing was it more particularly remarkable than 
in the circumstances of my last years of solitary 
residence in this island. 



I t was now the month of December, as I said 
above, in my twenty-third year; and this being 
the southern solstice (for winter I cannot call it) 
was the particular time of my harvest, and required 
my being pretty much abroad in the fields ; when 
going out pretty early in the morning, even before 
it was thorough daylight, I was surprised with see- 
ing a light of some fire upon the shore, at a dis- 
tance from me of about two miles, towards the end 
of the island where I had observed some savages 
had been, as before; and not on the other side, but, 
to my great affliction, it was on my side of the 
island. 

I was indeed terribly surprised at the sight, and 
stopped short within my grove, not daring to go 
out, lest I might be surprised ; and yet I had no 
more peace within, from the apprehensions I had 
that if these savages, in rambling over the island, 
should find my corn standing or cut, or any of my 
works and improvements, they would immediately 
conclude that there were people in the place, and 



2 62 THE ADVENTURES OF 

would then never give over till they had found me 
out. In this extremity, I went back directly to my 
castle, pulled up the ladder after me, and made all 
things without look as wild and natural as I could. 

Then I prepared myself within, putting myself 
in a posture of defence : I loaded all my cannon, 
as I called them, that is to say, my muskets, which 
were mounted upon my new fortification, and all 
my pistols, and resolved to defend myself to the 
last gasp; not forgetting seriously to commend 
myself to the divine protection, and earnestly to 
pray to God to deliver me out of the hands of the 
barbarians. I continued in this posture about two 
hours ; and began to be mighty impatient for in- 
telligence abroad, for I had no spies to send out. 
After sitting a while longer, and musing what I 
should do in this, I was not able to bear sitting in 
ignorance any longer ; so setting up my ladder to 
the side of the hill, where there was a flat place, as 
I observed before, and then pulling the ladder up 
after me, I set it up again, and mounted to the top 
of the hill ; and pulling out my perspective glass, 
which I had taken on purpose, I laid me down flat 
on my belly on the ground, and began to look for 
the place. I presently found there were no less than 
nine naked savages, sitting round a small fire they 
had made, not to warm them, for they had no need 
of that, the weather being extremely hot, but, as I 
supposed, to dress some of their barbarous diet of 
human flesh which they had brought with them, 
whether alive or dead I could not tell. 



THERE WERE NO LESS THAN NINE NAKED SAVAGES 
































































































































































































































































































































































































































ROBINSON CRUSOE 263 

They had two canoes with them, which they had 
hauled up upon the shore ; and as it was then tide 
of ebb, they seemed to me to wait for the return 
of the flood to go away again. It is not easy to 
imagine what confusion this sight put me into, espe- 
cially seeing them come on my side of the island, 
and so near me too ; but when I considered their 
coming must be always with the current of the ebb, 
I began, afterwards, to be more sedate in my mind, 
being satisfied that I might go abroad with safety 
all the time of the tide of flood, if they were not on 
shore before ; and having made this observation, I 
went abroad about my harvest work with the more 
composure. 

\As I expected, so it proved ; for as soon as the 
tide made to the westward, I saw them all take 
boat, and row (or paddle, as we call it) away. I 
should have observed that, for an hour or more be- 
fore they went off, they went a-dancing ; and I could 
easily discern their postures and gestures by my 
glass. I could not perceive, by my nicest observa- 
tion, but that they were stark naked, and had not 
the least covering upon them ; but whether they 
were men or women, I could not distinguish. 

As soon as I saw them shipped and gone, I took 
two guns upon my shoulders, and two pistols in 
my girdle, and my great sword by my side, without 
a scabbard, and with all the speed I was able to 
make, went away to the hill where I had discovered 
the first appearance of all ; and as soon as I got 
thither, which was not in less than two hours (for 


264 THE ADVENTURES OF 

I could not go apace, being so loaden with arms 
as I was), I perceived there had been three canoes 
more of savages at that place ; and looking out far- 
ther, I saw they were all at sea together, making 
over for the main. This was a dreadful sight to me, 
especially as, going down to the shore, I could see 
the marks of horror which the dismal work they 
had been about had left behind it, viz., the blood, 
the bones, and part of the flesh of human bodies, 
eaten and devoured by those wretches with merri- 
ment and sport. I was so filled with indignation 
at the sight that I now began to premeditate the 
destruction of the next that I saw there, let them 
be whom or how many soever. It seemed evident 
to me that the visits which they made thus to this 
island were not very frequent, for it was above fif- 
teen months before any more of them came on 
shore there again ; that is to say, I neither saw them, 
nor any footsteps or signals of them, in all that 
time ; for, as to the rainy seasons, then they are 
sure not to come abroad, at least not so far ; yet 
all this while I lived uncomfortably, by reason of 
the constant apprehensions of their coming upon 
me by surprise ; from whence I observe that the 
expectation of evil is more bitter than the suffer- 
ing, especially if there is no room to shake off that 
expectation, or those apprehensions. 

\ During all this time I was in the murdering hu- 
mour, and took up most of my hours, which should 
have been better employed, in contriving how to 
circumvent and fall upon them, the very next time 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 265 

I should see them ; especially if they should be 
divided, as they were the last time, into two parties : 
nor did I consider at all that, if I killed one party, 
suppose ten or a dozen, I was still the next day, 
or week, or month, to kill another, and so another, 
even ad infinitum , till I should be at length no less 
a murderer than they were in being man-eaters, and 
perhaps much more so. I spent my days now in 
great perplexity and anxiety of mind, expecting that 
I should, one day or other, fall into the hands of 
these merciless creatures ; and if I did at any time 
venture abroad, it was not without looking round 
me with the greatest care and caution imaginable. 
And now I found, to my great comfort, how happy 
it was that I provided for a tame flock or herd of 
goats ; for I durst not, upon any account, fire my 
gun, especially near that side of the island where 
they usually came, lest I should alarm the savages; 
and if they had fled from me now, I was sure to 
have them come again, with perhaps two or three 
hundred canoes with them, in a few days, and then 
I knew what to expect. However, I wore out a year 
and three months more before I ever saw any more 
of the savages, and then I found them again, as I 
shall soon observe. It is true, they might have 
been there once or twice, but either they made no 
stay, or at least I did not see them; but in the 
month of May, as near as I could calculate, and 
in my four-and-twentieth year, I had a very strange 
encounter with them ; of which in its place. 

The perturbation of my mind, during this fifteen 


266 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


or sixteen months’ interval, was very great : I slept 
unquiet, dreamed always frightful dreams, and often 
started out of my sleep in the night ; in the day, 
great troubles overwhelmed my mind ; and in the 
night, I dreamed often of killing the savages, and 
of the reasons why I might justify the doing of it. 
— But to waive all this for a while. It was in the 
middle of May, on the sixteenth day, I think, as 
well as my poor wooden calendar would reckon, 
for I marked all upon the post still ; I say, it was 
on the sixteenth of May that it blew a very great 
storm of wind all day, with a great deal of lightning 
and thunder, and a very foul night it was after it. 
I knew not what was the particular occasion of it, 
but as I was reading in the Bible, and taken up with 
very serious thoughts about my present condition, 
I was surprised with the noise of a gun, as I thought, 
fired at sea. This was, to be sure, a surprise quite 
of a different nature from any I had met with be- 
fore ; for the notions this put into my thoughts 
were quite of another kind. I started up in the 
greatest haste imaginable, and, in a trice, clapped 
my ladder to the middle place of the rock, and 
pulled it after me ; and mounting it the second 
time, got to the top of the hill the very moment 
that a flash of fire bid me listen for a second gun, 
which accordingly, in about half a minute, I heard; 
and, by the sound, knew that it was from that part 
of the sea where I was driven down the current in 
my boat. I immediately considered that this must 
be some ship in distress, and that they had some 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 267 

comrade, or some other ship in company, and fired 
these guns for signals of distress, and to obtain 
help. I had the presence of mind, at that minute, 
to think that, though I could not help them, it 
might be they might help me : so I brought to- 
gether all the dry wood I could get at hand, and 
making a good handsome pile, I set it on fire upon 
the hill. The wood was dry, and blazed freely; and 
though the wind blew very hard, yet it burnt fairly 
out ; so that I was certain, if there was any such 
thing as a ship, they must needs see it; and no 
doubt they did ; for as soon as ever my fire blazed 
up I heard another gun, and after that several 
others, all from the same quarter. I plied my fire 
all night long, till daybreak ; and when it was broad 
day, and the air cleared up, I saw something at a 
great distance at sea, full east of the island, whether 
a sail or a hull I could not distinguish, no, not with 
my glass ; the distance was so great, and the weather 
still something hazy also ; at least it was so out at 
sea. 

I looked frequently at it all that day, and soon 
perceived that it did not move; so I presently con- 
cluded that it was a ship at anchor ; and being eager, 
you may be sure, to be satisfied, I took my gun in 
my hand, and ran towards the south side of the 
island, to the rocks where I had formerly been car- 
ried away with the current; and getting up there, 
the weather by this time being perfectly clear, I 
could plainly see, to my great sorrow, the wreck 
of a ship cast away in the night upon those con- 


268 THE ADVENTURES OF 

cealed rocks which I found when I was out in my 
boat; and which rocks, as they checked the violence 
of the stream, and made a kind of counter-stream, 
or eddy, were the occasion of my recovering from 
the most desperate, hopeless condition that ever I 
had been in in all my life. Thus, what is one man’s 
safety is another man’s destruction ; for it seems 
these men, whoever they were, being out of their 
knowledge, and the rocks being wholly under water, 
had been driven upon them in the night, the wind 
blowing hard at ENE. Had they seen the island, 
as I must necessarily suppose they did not, they 
must, as I thought, have endeavoured to have 
saved themselves on shore by the help of their boat ; 
but their firing-off guns for help, especially when 
they saw, as I imagined, my fire, filled me with many 
thoughts. First, I imagined that, upon seeing my 
light, they might have put themselves into their 
boat and endeavoured to make the shore ; but that 
the sea going very high, they might have been cast 
away ; other times I imagined that they might 
have lost their boat before, as might be the case 
many ways ; as particularly, by the breaking of the 
sea upon their ship, which many times obliges men 
to stave, or take in pieces, their boat, and some- 
times to throw it overboard with their own hands; 
other times I imagined they had some other ship 
or ships in company, who, upon the signals of dis- 
tress they had made, had taken them up and car- 
ried them off; other times I fancied they were all 
gone off to sea in their boat, and being hurried 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 269 

away by the current that I had been formerly in, 
were carried out into the great ocean, where there 
was nothing but misery and perishing ; and that, 
perhaps, they might by this time be starving, and 
in a condition to think of eating one another. 

As all these were but conjectures at best, so, in 
the condition I was in, I could do no more than 
look upon the misery of the poor men, and pity 
them ; which had still this good effect on my side 
that it gave me more and more cause to give thanks 
to God, who had so happily and comfortably pro- 
vided for me in my desolate condition ; and that, 
of two ship's companies who were now cast away 
upon this part of the world, not one life should be 
spared but mine. I learned here again to observe 
that it is very rare that the providence of God casts 
us into any condition of life so low, or any misery 
so great, but we may see something or other to be 
thankful for, and may see others in worse circum- 
stances than our own. Such certainly was the case 
of these men, of whom I could not so much as see 
room to suppose any of them were saved ; nothing 
could make it rational so much as to wish or ex- 
pect that they did not all perish there, except the 
possibility only of their being taken up by another 
ship in company; and this was but mere possibility 
indeed ; for I saw not the least sign or appearance 
of any such thing. I cannot explain, by any pos- 
sible energy of words, what a strange longing or 
hankering of desires I felt in my soul upon this 
sight, breaking out sometimes thus : “ O that there 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


270 

had been but one or two, nay, or but one soul saved 
out of this ship, to have escaped to me, that I 
might have had one companion, one fellow-creature 
to have spoken to me,and to have conversed with ! ” 
In all the time of my solitary life, I never felt so 
earnest, so strong a desire after the society of my 
fellow-creatures, or so deep a regret at the want 
of it. 



here are some secret moving springs in the 



1 affections, which, when they are set a-going 
by some object in view, or, though not in view, 
yet rendered present to the mind by the power of 
imagination, that motion carries out the soul, by 
its impetuosity, to such violent, eager embracings 
of the object that the absence of it is insupport- 
able. Such were these earnest wishings that but 
one man had been saved. I believe I repeated the 
words, “ O that it had been but one ! ” a thousand 
times; and my desires were so moved by it that 
when I spoke the words my hands would clinch 
together, and my fingers would press the palms of 
my hands so that if I had had any soft thing in my 
hand it would have crushed it involuntarily; and 
the teeth in my head would strike together, and 
set against one another so strong that for some 
time I could not part them again. Let the nat- 
uralists explain these things, and the reason and 
manner of them ; all I can say to them is, to de- 
scribe the fact, which was even surprising to me, 



THE ADVENTURES OF 


272 

when I found it, though I knew not from whence 
it proceeded; it was doubtless the effect of ardent 
wishes, and of strong ideas formed in my mind, 
realising the comfort which the conversation of 
one of my fellow-Christians would have been to 
me. But it was not to be ; either their fate or mine, 
or both, forbade it; for till the last year of my 
being on this island, I never knew whether any 
were saved out of that ship or no ; and had only 
the affliction, some days after, to see the corpse of 
a drowned boy come on shore at the end of the 
island which was next the shipwreck. He had no 
clothes on but a seaman’s waistcoat, a pair of open- 
kneed linen drawers, and a blue linen shirt; but 
nothing to direct me so much as to guess what 
nation he was of ; he had nothing in his pockets 
but two pieces-of-eight and a tobacco-pipe, — the 
last was to me of ten times more value than the 
first. 

It was now calm, and I had a great mind to ven- 
ture out in my boat to this wreck, not doubting 
but I might find something on board that might 
be useful to me ; but that did not altogether press 
me so much as the possibility that there might be 
yet some living creature on board, whose life I 
might not only save, but might, by saving that 
life, comfort my own to the last degree. And this 
thought clung so to my heart that I could not be 
quiet night or day, but I must venture out in my 
boat on board this wreck; and committing the rest 
to God’s providence, I thought the impression 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


2 73 

was so strong upon my mind that it could not be 
resisted, that it must come from some invisible 
direction, and that I should be wanting to myself 
if I did not go. 

Under the power of this impression, I hastened 
back to my castle, prepared everything for my 
voyage, took a quantity of bread, a great pot of 
fresh water, a compass to steer by, a bottle of rum 
(for I had still a great deal of that left), and a 
basket of raisins ; and thus loading myself with 
everything necessary, I went down to my boat, got 
the water out of her, put her afloat, loaded all my 
cargo in her, and then went home again for more. 
My second cargo was a great bag of rice, the um- 
brella to set up over my head for a shade, another 
large pot of fresh water, and about two dozen of 
my small loaves, or barley-cakes, more than before, 
with a bottle of goat’s milk and a cheese : all which, 
with great labour and sweat, I carried to my boat; 
and praying to God to direct my voyage, I put 
out; and rowing, or paddling, the canoe along 
the shore, came at last to the utmost point of the 
island on the north-east side. And now I was to 
launch out into the ocean, and either to venture or 
not to venture. I looked on the rapid currents 
which ran constantly on both sides of the island at 
a distance, and which were very terrible to me, from 
the remembrance of the hazard I had been in 
before, and my heart began to fail me ; for I fore- 
saw that if I was driven into either of those cur- 
rents, I should be carried a great way out to sea, 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


274 

and perhaps out of my reach, or sight of the island 
again ; and that then, as my boat was but small, 
if any little gale of wind should rise, I should be 
inevitably lost. 

\ These thoughts so impressed my mind that I 
began to give over my enterprise ; and having 
hauled my boat into a little creek on the shore, I 
stepped out, and sat me down upon a rising bit of 
ground, very pensive and anxious, between fear 
and desire, about my voyage; when, as I was mus- 
ing, I could perceive that the tide was turned, and 
the flood come on ; upon which my going was 
impracticable for so many hours. Upon this, pre- 
sently, it occurred to me that I should go up to the 
highest piece of ground I could find, and observe, 
if I could, how the sets of the tide, or currents, lay 
when the flood came in, that I might judge whether, 
if I was driven one way out, I might not expect to 
be driven another way home, with the same rapid- 
ness of the currents. This thought was no sooner 
in my head than I cast my eye upon a little hill, 
which sufficiently overlooked the sea both ways, 
and from whence I had a clear view of the currents, 
or sets of the tide, and which way I was to guide 
myself in my return. Here I found that as the 
current of the ebb set out close by the south point 
of the island, so the current of the flood set in close 
by the shore of the north side ; and that I had no- 
thing to do but to keep to the north side of the 
island in my return, and I should do well enough. 

Encouraged with this observation, I resolved, the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


275 

next morning, to set out with the first of the tide; 
and reposing myself for the night in my canoe, 
under the great watchcoat I mentioned, I launched 
out. I first made a little out to sea, full north, till 
I began to feel the benefit of the current, which set 
eastward, and which carried me at a great rate, and 
yet did not so hurry me as the current on the south 
side had done before, so as to take from me all gov- 
ernment of the boat ; but having a strong steerage 
with my paddle, I went at a great rate directly for 
the wreck, and in less than two hours I came up to 
it. It was a dismal sight to look at : the ship, which, 
by its building, was Spanish, stuck fast, jammed in 
between two rocks ; all the stern and quarter of her 
were beaten to pieces with the sea ; and as her fore- 
castle, which stuck in the rocks, had run on with 
great violence, her mainmast and foremast were 
brought by the board, that is to say, broken short 
off ; but her bowsprit was sound, and the head and 
bow appeared firm. When I came close to her, a 
dog appeared upon her, who, seeing me coming, 
yelped and cried ; and as soon as I called him, 
jumped into the sea to come to me. I took him 
into the boat, but found him almost dead with hun- 
ger and thirst. I gave him a cake of my bread, and 
he devoured it like a ravenous wolf that had been 
starving a fortnight in the snow. I then gave the 
poor creature some fresh water, with which, if I 
would have let him, he would have burst himself. 
After this, I went on board ; but the first sight I 
met with was two men drowned in the cook-room, 


276 THE ADVENTURES OF 

or forecastle of the ship, with their arms fast about 
one another. I concluded, as is indeed probable, 
that when the ship struck, it being in a storm, the 
sea broke so high, and so continually over her, that 
the men were not able to bear it, and were strangled 
with the constant rushing in of the water, as much 
as if they had been under water. Besides the dog, 
there was nothing left in the ship that had life ; nor 
any goods, that I could see, but what were spoiled 
by the water. There were some casks of liquor, 
whether wine or brandy I knew not, which lay lower 
in the hold, and which, the water being ebbed out, 
I could see ; but they were too big to meddle with. 
I saw several chests, which I believed belonged to 
some of the seamen ; and I got two of them into 
the boat, without examining what was in them. Had 
the stern of the ship been fixed, and the forepart 
broken off, I am persuaded I might have made a 
good voyage : for, by what I found in these two 
chests, I had room to suppose the ship had a great 
deal of wealth on board ; and, if I may guess from 
the course she steered, she must have been bound 
from Buenos Ayres, or the Rio de la Plata, in the 
south part of America, beyond the Brazils, to the 
Havanna, in the Gulf of Mexico, and so perhaps 
to Spain. She had, no doubt, a great treasure in her, 
but of no use, at that time, to anybody; and what 
became of her crew, I then knew not. 

I found, besides these chests, a little cask full of 
liquor, of about twenty gallons, which I got into my 
boat with much difficulty. There were several mus- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


277 

kets in the cabin, and a great powder-horn, with 
about four pounds of powder in it : as for the mus- 
kets, I had no occasion for them, so I left them, but 
took the powder-horn. I took a fire-shovel and 
tongs, which I wanted extremely ; as also two little 
brass kettles, a copper pot to make chocolate, and 
a gridiron : and with this cargo, and the dog, I came 
away, the tide beginning to make home again ; and 
the same evening, about an hour within night, I 
reached the island again, weary and fatigued to the 
last degree. I reposed that night in the boat ; and 
in the morning I resolved to harbour what I had 
got in my new cave, and not carry it home to my 
castle. After refreshing myself, I got all my cargo 
on shore, and began to examine the particulars. 
The cask of liquor I found to be a kind of rum, 
but not such as we had at the Brazils, and, in a word, 
not at all good ; but when I came to open the chests, 
I found several things of great use to me : for ex- 
ample, I found in one a fine case of bottles, of an 
extraordinary kind, and filled with cordial waters, 
fine and very good : the bottles held about three 
pints each, and were tipped with silver. I found two 
pots of very good succades or sweetmeats, so fast- 
ened also on the top that the salt water had not 
hurt them ; and two more of the same, which the 
water had spoiled. I found some very good shirts, 
which were very welcome to me ; and about a dozen 
and a half of white linen handkerchiefs and coloured 
neckcloths ; the former were also very welcome, 
being exceeding refreshing to wipe my face in a hot 


278 THE ADVENTURES OF 

day. Besides this, when I came to the till in the 
chest, I found there three great bags of pieces-of- 
eight, which held about eleven hundred pieces in 
all ; and in one of them, wrapped up in a paper, six 
doubloons of gold and some small bars or wedges 
of gold ; I suppose they might all weigh near a 
pound. In the other chest were some clothes, but 
of little value; but, by the circumstances, it must 
have belonged to the gunner’s mate; though there 
was no powder in it, except two pounds of fine 
glazed powder, in three small flasks, kept, I sup- 
pose, for charging their fowling-pieces on occasion. 
Upon the whole, I got very little by this voyage 
that was of any use to me: for, as to the money, 
I had no manner of occasion for it; it was to me as 
the dirt under my feet; and I would have given it 
all for three or four pair of English shoes and stock- 
ings, which were things I greatly wanted, but had 
none on my feet for many years. I had indeed got 
two pair of shoes now, which I took off the feet of 
the two drowned men whom I saw in the wreck and 
I found two pair more in one of the chests, which 
were very welcome to me; but they were not like 
our English shoes, either for ease or service, being 
rather what we call pumps than shoes. I found in 
this seaman’s chest about fifty pieces-of-eight in rials, 
but no gold: I suppose this belonged to a poorer 
man than the other, which seemed to belong to 
some officer. Well, however, I lugged this money 
home to my cave, and laid it up, as I had done that 
before which I brought from our own ship : but it 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 279 

was a great pity, as I said, that the other part of this 
ship had not come to my share; for I am satisfied 
I might have loaded my canoe several times over 
with money; and, thought I, if I ever escape to 
England, it might lie here safe enough till I may 
come again and fetch it. 

Having now brought all my things on shore, and 
secured them, I went back to my boat, and rowed 
or paddled her along the shore, to her old harbour, 
where I laid her up, and made the best of my way 
to my old habitation, where I found everything 
safe and quiet. I began now to repose myself, live 
after my old fashion, and take care of my family 
affairs; and, for a while, I lived easy enough, only 
that I was more vigilant than I used to be, looked 
out oftener, and did not go abroad so much; and 
if at any time I did stir with any freedom, it was 
always to the east part of the island, where I was 
pretty well satisfied the savages never came, and 
where I could go without so many precautions, and 
such a load of arms and ammunition as I always 
carried with me if I went the other way. I lived in 
this condition near two years more; but my un- 
lucky head, that was always to let me know it was 
born to make my body miserable, was all these two 
years filled with projects and designs, how, if it were 
possible, I might get away from this island; for 
sometimes I was for making another voyage to the 
wreck, though my reason told me that there was 
nothing left there worth the hazard of my voyage; 
sometimes for a ramble one way, sometimes another ; 


28 o 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


and I believe verily, if I had had the boat that I 
went from Sallee in, I should have ventured to sea, 
bound anywhere, I knew not whither. I have been, 
in all my circumstances, a memento to those who 
are touched with the general plague of mankind, 
whence, for aught I know, one half of their mis- 
eries flow: I mean that of not being satisfied with 
the station wherein God and nature hath placed 
them ; for, not to look back upon my primitive con- 
dition, and the excellent advice of my father, the 
opposition to which was, as I may call it, my orig- 
inal sin , my subsequent mistakes of the same kind 
had been the means of my coming into this mis- 
erable condition ; for had that Providence, which 
so happily seated me at the Brazils as a planter, 
blessed me with confined desires, and I could have 
been contented to have gone on gradually, I might 
have been by this time, I mean in the time of my 
being in this island, one of the most considerable 
planters in the Brazils; nay, I am persuaded that, 
by the improvements I had made in that little time 
I lived there and the increase I should probably 
have made if I had remained, I might have been 
worth a hundred thousand moideres. And what 
business had I to leave a settled fortune, a well- 
stocked plantation, improving and increasing, to 
turn supercargo to Guinea to fetch negroes, when 
patience and time would have so increased our 
stock at home that we could have bought them at 
our own door from those whose business it was to 
fetch them; and though it had cost us something 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


281 


more, yet the difference of that price was by no 
means worth saving at so great a hazard. But as 
this is usually the fate of young heads, so reflection 
upon the folly of it is as commonly the exercise 
of more years, or of the dear-bought experience of 
time; so it was with me now; and yet so deep had 
the mistake taken root in my temper that I could 
not satisfy myself in my station, but was continually 
poring upon the means and possibility of my es- 
cape from this place. And that I may with the 
greater pleasure to the reader bring on the remain- 
ing part of my story, it may not be improper to 
give some account of my first conceptions on the 
subject of this foolish scheme for my escape, and 
how, and upon what foundation, I acted. 

U am now to be supposed retired into my castle, 
after my late voyage to the wreck, my frigate laid 
up and secured under water, as usual, and my con- 
dition restored to what it was before; I had more 
wealth, indeed, than I had before, but was not at 
all the richer; for I had no more use for it than the 
Indians of Peru had before the Spaniards came 
there. It was one of the nights in the rainy season 
in March, the four-and-twentieth year of my first 
setting foot in this island of solitude, I was lying 
in my bed, or hammock, awake; very well in health, 
had no pain, no distemper, no uneasiness of body, 
nor any uneasiness of mind, more than ordinary, 
but could by no means close my eyes, that is, so 
as to sleep: no, not a wink all night long, other- 
wise than as follows: It is impossible to set down 


282 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


the innumerable crowd of thoughts that whirled 
through that great thoroughfare of the brain, the 
memory, in this night’s time; I ran over the whole 
history of my life in miniature, or by abridgment, 
as I may call it, to my coming to this island, and 
also of that part of my life since I came to this 
island. In my reflections upon the state of my case 
since I came on shore on this island, I was com- 
paring the happy posture of my affairs in the first 
years of my habitation here, compared to the life 
of anxiety, fear, and care which I had lived in ever 
since I had seen the print of a foot in the sand ; not 
that I did not believe the savages had frequented 
the island even all the while, and might have been 
several hundreds of them at times on shore there; 
but I had never known it, and was incapable of 
any apprehensions about it; my satisfaction was 
perfect, though my danger was the same, and I was 
as happy in not knowing my danger as if I had 
never really been exposed to it. This furnished 
my thoughts with many very profitable reflections, 
and particularly this one : How infinitely good that 
Providence is, which has provided, in its govern- 
ment of mankind, such narrow bounds to his sight 
and knowledge of things; and though he walks in 
the midst of so many thousand dangers, the sight 
of which, if discovered to him, would distract his 
mind and sink his spirits, he is kept serene and 
calm by having the events of things hid from his 
eyes, and knowing nothing of the dangers which 
surround him. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 283 

After these thoughts had for some time enter- 
tained me, I came to reflect seriously upon the real 
danger I had been in for so many years in this very 
island, and how I had walked about in the greatest 
security, and with all possible tranquillity, even when 
perhaps nothing but the brow of a hill, a great tree, 
or the casual approach of night, had been between me 
and the worst kind of destruction, viz., that of falling 
into the hands of cannibals and savages, who would 
have seized on me with the same view as I would on 
a goat or a turtle, and have thought it no more a 
crime to kill and devour me than I did a pigeon or 
curlew. I would unjustly slander myself if I should 
say I was not sincerely thankful to my great Pre- 
server, to whose singular protection I acknowledged 
with great humility all these unknown deliverances 
were due, and without which I must inevitably have 
fallen into their merciless hands. 

When these thoughts were over, my head was for 
some time taken up in considering the nature of 
these wretched creatures, I mean the savages, and 
how it came to pass in the world that the wise Gov- 
ernor of all things should give up any of his creatures 
to such inhumanity, nay, to something so much be- 
low even brutality itself, as to devour its own kind 
but as this ended in some (at that time) fruitless spec- 
ulations, it occurred to me to inquire what part of the 
world these wretches lived in ? how far off the coast 
was from whence they came ? what they ventured 
over so far from home for ? what kind of boats they 
had ? and why I might not order myself and my 


284 THE ADVENTURES OF 

business so that I might be as able to go over 
thither as they were to come to me. 

I never so much as troubled myself to consider 
what I should do with myself when I went thither, 
what would become of me if I fell into the hands of 
the savages, or how I should escape from them, if 
they attacked me : no, nor so much as how it was 
possible for me to reach the coast, and not be at- 
tacked by some or other of them, without any pos- 
sibility of delivering myself ; and if I should not fall 
into their hands, what I should do for provision, 
or whither I should bend my course; none of these 
thoughts, I say, so much as came in my way; but my 
mind was wholly bent upon the notion of my passing 
over in my boat to the main land. I looked upon 
my present condition as the most miserable that 
could possibly be ; that I was not able to throw my- 
self into anything, but death, that could be called 
worse; and if I reached the shore of the main, I 
might perhaps meet with relief, or I might coast 
along, as I did on the African shore, till I came to 
some inhabited country, and where I might find 
some relief ; and after all, perhaps, I might fall in 
with some Christian ship that might take me in; and 
if the worst came to the worst, I could but die, which 
would put an end to all these miseries at once. Pray 
note, all this was the fruit of a disturbed mind, an 
impatient temper, made desperate, as it were, by the 
long continuance of my troubles, and the disap- 
pointments I had met in the wreck I had been on 
board of, and where I had been so near obtaining 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 285 

what I so earnestly longed for, viz., somebody to 
speak to, and to learn some knowledge from them 
of the place where I was, and of the probable means 
of my deliverance. I was agitated wholly by these 
thoughts ; all my calm of mind, in my resignation 
to Providence, and waiting the issue of the disposi- 
tions of Heaven, seemed to be suspended; and I 
had, as it were, no power to turn my thoughts to 
anything but to the project of a voyage to the main, 
which came upon me with such force, and such an 
impetuosity of desire, that it was not to be resisted. 

When this had agitated my thoughts for two 
hours or more, with such violence that it set my 
very blood into a ferment, and my pulse beat as if 
I had been in a fever, merely with the extraordinary 
fervour of my mind about it, nature, as if I had 
been fatigued and exhausted with the very thought 
of it, threw me into a sound sleep. One would have 
thought I should have dreamed of it, but I did not, 
nor of anything relating to it; but I dreamed that as 
I was going out in the morning, as usual, from my 
castle, I saw upon the shore two canoes and eleven 
savages coming to land, and that they brought with 
them another savage, whom they were going to kill, 
in order to eat him ; when, on a sudden, the savage 
that they were going to kill jumped away, and ran 
for his life; and I thought, in my sleep, that he 
came running into my little thick grove before my 
fortification, to hide himself ; and that I, seeing him 
alone, and not perceiving that theotherssought him 
that way, showed myself to him, and smiling upon 


286 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


him, encouraged him: that he kneeled down to me, 
seeming to pray me to assist him ; upon which I 
showed him my ladder, made him go up, and carried 
him into my cave, and he became my servant; and 
that as soon as I had got this man, I said to myself, 
“Now I may certainly venture to the main land ; 
for this fellow will serve me as a pilot, and will tell 
me what to do, and whither to go for provisions, and 
whither not to go for fear of being devoured ; what 
places to venture into, and what to shun.” I waked 
with this thought; and was under such inexpressible 
impressions of joy at the prospect of my escape in 
my dream that the disappointments which I felt 
upon coming to myself, and finding that it was no 
more than a dream, were equally extravagant the 
other way, and threw me into a very great dejection 
of spirits. 

Upon this, however, I made this conclusion : that 
my only way to go about to attempt an escape was, 
if possible, to get a savage into my possession ; 
and, if possible, it should be one of their prisoners 
whom they had condemned to be eaten, and should 
bring hither to kill. But these thoughts still were 
attended with this difficulty that it was impossible 
to effect this without attacking a whole caravan of 
them, and killing them all : and this was not only 
a very desperate attempt, and might miscarry : but, 
on the other hand, I had greatly scrupled the law- 
fulness of it to myself, and my heart trembled at 
the thought of shedding so much blood, though 
it was for my deliverance. I need not repeat the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 287 

arguments which occurred to me against this, they 
being the same mentioned before ; but though I 
had other reasons to offer now, viz., that those men 
were enemies to my life, and would devour me if 
they could; that it was self-preservation, in the 
highest degree, to deliver myself from this death 
of a life, and was acting in my own defence as much 
as if they were actually assaulting me, and the like ; 
I say, though these things argued for it, yet the 
thoughts of shedding human blood for my deliver- 
ance were very terrible to me, and such as I could 
by no means reconcile myself to for a great while. 
However, at last, after many secret disputes with 
myself, and after great perplexities about it (for all 
these arguments, one way and another, struggled 
in my head a long time), the eager prevailing de- 
sire of deliverance at length mastered all the rest; 
and I resolved, if possible, to get one of those sav- 
ages into my hands, cost what it would. My next 
thing was to contrive how to do it, and this indeed 
was very difficult to resolve on ; but as I could pitch 
upon no probable means for it, so I resolved to put 
myself upon the watch, to see them when they 
came on shore, and leave the rest to the event, 
taking such measures as the opportunity should 
present, let what would be. 

x With these resolutions in my thoughts, I set 
myself upon the scout as often as possible, and in- 
deed so often, that I was heartily tired of it; for it 
was above a year and a half that I waited; and for 
great part of that time went out to the west end, 


288 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


and to the south-west corner, of the island, almost 
every day, to look for canoes, but none appeared. 
This was very discouraging, and began to trouble 
me much, though I cannot say that it did in this 
case (as it had done some time before) wear off the 
edge of my desire to the thing; but the longer it 
seemed to be delayed, the more eager I was for it ; 
in a word, I was not at first so careful to shun the 
sight of thesef savages, and avoid being seen by 
them, as I was now eager to be upon them. Be- 
sides, I fancied myself able to manage one, nay, 
two or three savages, if I had them, so as to make 
them entirely slaves to me, to do whatever I should 
direct them, and to prevent their being able at any 
time to do me any hurt. It was a great while that 
I pleased myself with this affair; but nothing still 
presented ; all my fancies and schemes came to 
nothing, for no savages came near me for a great 
while. 



A bout a year and a half after I entertained 
these notions (and by long musing had, as 
it were, resolved them all into nothing, for want 
of an occasion to put them into execution), I was 
surprised, one morning early, with seeing no less 
than five canoes all on shore together on my side 
the island, and the people who belonged to them 
all landed, and out of my sight. The number of 
them broke all my measures ; for seeing so many, 
and knowing that they always came four or six, or 
sometimes more, in a boat, I could not tell what 
to think of it, or how to take my measures, to at- 
tack twenty or thirty men single-handed ; so lay 
still in my castle, perplexed and discomforted. 
However, I put myself into all the same postures 
for an attack that I had formerly provided, and 
was just ready for action, if anything had pre- 
sented. Having waited a good while, listening to 
hear if they made any noise, at length, being very 
impatient, I set my guns at the foot of my ladder, 
and clambered up to the top of the hill, by my two 


2 9 0 THE ADVENTURES OF 

stages, as usual ; standing so, however, that my 
head did not appear above the hill, so that they 
could not perceive me by any means. Here I ob- 
served, by the help of my perspective glass, that 
they were no less than thirty in number ; that they 
had a fire kindled, and that they had meat dressed. 
How they had cooked it I knew not, or what it 
was ; but they were all dancing, in I know not how 
many barbarous gestures and figures, their own 
way, round the fire. 

While I was thus looking on them, I perceived, 
by my perspective, two miserable wretches dragged 
from the boats, where, it seems, they were laid by, 
and were now brought out for the slaughter. I per- 
ceived one of them immediately fall, being knocked 
down, I suppose, with a club or wooden sword, for 
that was their way, and two or three others were 
at work immediately, cutting him open for their 
cookery, while the other victim was left standing 
by himself, till they should be ready for him. In 
that very moment, this poor wretch, seeing him- 
self a little at liberty, and unbound, nature inspired 
him with hopes of life, and he started away from 
them, and ran with incredible swiftness along the 
sands, directly towards me, I mean towards that 
part of the coast where my habitation was. I was 
dreadfully frightened, I must acknowledge, when 
I perceived him run my way, and especially when, 
as I thought, I saw him pursued by the whole 
body ; and now I expected that part of my dream 
was coming to pass, and that he would certainly 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


291 

take shelter in my grove ; but I could not depend, 
by any means, upon my dream for the rest of it, 
viz., that the other savages would not pursue him 
thither, and find him there. However, I kept my 
station, and my spirits began to recover, when I 
found that there was not above three men that fol- 
lowed him ; and still more was I encouraged when 
I found that he outstripped them exceedingly in 
running, and gained ground of them, so that if he 
could but hold it for half an hour, I saw easily he 
would fairly get away from them all. 

There was between them and my castle the 
creek, which I mentioned often in the first part 
of my story, where I landed my cargoes out of the 
ship ; and this I saw plainly he must necessarily 
swim over, or the poor wretch would be taken 
there : but when the savage escaping came thither, 
he made nothing of it, though the tide was then 
up; but plunging in, swam through in about thirty 
strokes, or thereabouts, landed, and ran on with 
exceeding strength and swiftness. When the three 
persons came to the creek, I found that two of 
them could swim, but the third could not, arid 
that, standing on the other side, he looked at the 
others, but went no farther, and soon after went 
softly back again ; which, as it happened, was very 
well for him in the end. I observed that the two 
who swam were yet more than twice as long swim- 
ming over the creek as the fellow was that fled 
from them. It came now very warmly upon my 
thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now was 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


292 

the time to get me a servant, and perhaps a com- 
panion or assistant, and that I was called plainly 
by Providence to save this poor creature’s life. I 
immediately ran down the ladders with all possible 
expedition, fetched my two guns, for they were 
both at the foot of the ladders, as I observed 
above, and getting up again, with the same haste, 
to the top of the hill, I crossed toward the sea, and 
having a very short cut, and all down-hill, placed 
myself in the way between the pursuers and the 
pursued, hallooing aloud to him that fled, who, 
looking back, was at first, perhaps, as much fright- 
ened at me as at them. But I beckoned with my 
hand to him to come back ; and, in the mean time, 
I slowly advanced towards the two that followed ; 
then, rushing at once upon the foremost, I knocked 
him down with the stock of my piece. I was loth 
to fire, because I would not have the rest hear ; 
though, at that distance, it would not have been 
easily heard, and being out of sight of the smoke, 
too, they would not have easily known what to 
make of it. Having knocked this fellow down, the 
other who pursued him stopped, as if he had been 
frightened, and I advanced apace towards him ; 
but as I came nearer, I perceived presently he had 
a bow and arrow, and was fitting it to shoot at 
me : so I was then necessitated to shoot at him 
first, which I did, and killed him at the first shot. 
The poor savage who fled but had stopped, 
though he saw both his enemies fallen and killed, 
as he thought, yet was so frightened with the fire 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 293 

and noise of my piece that he stood stock-still, 
and neither came forward nor went backward, 
though he seemed rather inclined still to fly than 
to come on. I hallooed again to him, and made 
signs to come forward, which he easily understood, 
and came a little way, then stopped again ; and then 
a little farther, and stopped again ; and I could 
then perceive that he stood trembling, as if he had 
been taken prisoner, and had just been to be killed, 
as his two enemies were. I beckoned to him again 
to come to me, and gave him all the signs of en- 
couragement that I could think of ; and he came 
nearer and nearer, kneeling down every ten or 
twelve steps, in token of acknowledgment for sav- 
ing his life. I smiled at him, and looked pleasantly, 
and beckoned to him to come still nearer; at length 
he came close to me ; and then he kneeled down 
again, kissed the ground, and laid his head upon 
the ground, and taking me by the foot, set my 
foot upon his head : this, it seems, was in token 
of swearing to be my slave for ever. I took him 
up, and made much of him, and encouraged him 
all I could. 

But there was more work to do yet ; for I per- 
ceived the savage whom I knocked down was not 
killed but stunned with the blow, and began to 
come to himself ; so I pointed to him, and showed 
him the savage, that he was not dead ; upon this 
he spoke some words to me, and though I could 
not understand them, yet I thought they were 
pleasant to hear; for they were the first sound of a 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


294 

man’s voice that I had heard, my own excepted, 
for above twenty-five years. But there was no 
time for such reflections now ; the savage who was 
knocked down recovered himself so far as to sit 
up upon the ground, and I perceived that my sav- 
age began to be afraid ; but when I saw that, I pre- 
sented my other piece at the man, as if I would 
shoot him. Upon this my savage, for so I call him 
now, made a motion to me to lend him my sword 
which hung naked in a belt by my side, which I 
did. He no sooner had it but he runs to his 
enemy, and at one blow cut off his head so cleverly 
no executioner in Germany could have done it 
sooner or better ; which I thought very strange 
for one who, I had reason to believe, never saw a 
sword in his life before, except their own wooden 
swords. However, it seems, as I learned afterwards, 
they make their wooden swords so sharp, so heavy, 
and the wood is so hard, that they will cut off 
heads even with them, aye, and arms, and that at 
one blow, too. When he had done this, he comes 
laughing to me, in sign of triumph, and brought 
me the sword again, and with abundance of ges- 
tures, which I did not understand, laid it down, 
with the head of the savage that he had killed, just 
before me. 

But that which astonished him most was to know 
how I killed the other Indian so far off; so point- 
ing to him, he made signs to me to let him go to 
him ; so I bade him go, as well as I could. When 
he came to him, he stood like one amazed, look- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 295 

ing at him, turning him first on one side, then on 
the other, looked at the wound the bullet had 
made, which, it seems, was just in his breast, 
where it had made a hole, and no great quantity of 
blood had followed, but he had bled inwardly, 
for he was quite dead. He took up his bow and 
arrows, and came back ; so I turned to go away, 
and beckoned him to follow me, making signs to 
him that more might come after them. Upon 
this, he made signs to me that he should bury 
them with sand, that they might not be seen by 
the rest, if they followed; and so I made signs to 
him again to do so. He fell to work; and, in an 
instant, he had scraped a hole in the sand with his 
hands, big enough to bury the first in, and then 
dragged him into it, and covered him ; and did so 
by the other also ; I believe he had buried them 
both in a quarter of an hour. Then calling him 
away, I carried him, not to my castle, but quite 
away, to my cave, on the farther part of the island ; 
so I did not let my dream come to pass in that 
part, viz., that he came into my grove for shelter. 
Here I gave him bread and a bunch of raisins to 
eat, and a draught of water, which I found he 
was indeed in great distress for, by his running ; 
and having refreshed him, I made signs for him 
to go and lie down to sleep, showing him a place 
where I had laid some rice-straw, and a blanket 
upon it, which I used to sleep upon myself some- 
times; so the poor creature lay down, and went 
to sleep. 


<i 9 6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

He was a comely, handsome fellow, perfectly 
well-made, with straight, strong limbs, not too large, 
tall and well-shaped, and, as I reckon, about twenty- 
six years of age. He had a very good countenance, 
not a fierce and surly aspect, but seemed to have 
something very manly in his face; and yet he had 
all the sweetness and softness of an European in 
his countenance too, especially when he smiled. 
H is hair was long and black, not curled like wool; 
his forehead very high and large, and a great vivac- 
ity and sparkling sharpness in his eyes. The col- 
our of his skin was not quite black, but very tawny; 
and yet not an ugly, yellow, nauseous tawny, as 
the Brazilians and Virginians and other natives of 
America are, but of a bright kind of a dun olive- 
colour, that had in it something very agreeable, 
though not very easy to describe. His face was 
round and plump; his nose small, not flat like the 
Negroes; a very good mouth, thin lips, and his 
fine teeth well-set, and as white as ivory. 

After he had slumbered, rather than slept, about 
half an hour, he awoke again, and came out of the 
cave to me, for I had been milking my goats, which 
I had in the enclosure just by. When he espied me, 
he came running to me, laying himself down again 
upon the ground, with all the possible signs of an 
humble, thankful disposition, making a great many 
antic gestures to show it. At last, he lays his head 
flat upon the ground, close to my foot, and sets my 
other foot upon his head, as he had done before; 
and after this made all the signs to me of subjec- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 297 

tion, servitude, and submission imaginable, to let 
me know how he would serve me as long as he lived. 
I understood him in many things, and let him know 
I was very well pleased with him. In a little time 
I began to speak to him and teach him to speak to 
me; and, first, I let him know his name should be 
Friday, which was the day I saved his life ; I called 
him so for the memory of the time. I likewise 
taught him to say Master; and then let him know 
that was to be my name. I likewise taught him to 
say Yes and No, and to know the meaning of them. 
I gave him some milk in an earthen pot, and let 
him see me drink it before him, and sop my bread 
in it; and gave him a cake of bread to do the like, 
which he quickly complied with, and made signs 
that it was very good. I kept there with him all that 
night; but as soon as it was day, I beckoned to him 
to come with me, and let him know I would give 
him some clothes; at which he seemed very glad, 
for he was stark naked. As we went by the place 
where he had buried the two men, he pointed exactly 
to the place, and showed me the marks that he had 
made to find them again, making signs to me that 
we should dig them up again, and eat them. At 
this I appeared very angry, expressed my abhor- 
rence of it, made as if I would vomit at the thoughts 
of it, and beckoned with my hand to him to come 
away, which he did immediately, with great sub- 
mission. I then led him up to the top of the hill, 
to see if his enemies were gone ; and pulling out my 
glass, I looked, and saw plainly the place where 


298 THE ADVENTURES OF 

they had been, but no appearance of them or their 
canoes; so that it was plain that they were gone, 
and had left their two comrades behind them, with- 
out any search after them. 

But I was not content with this discovery ; but 
having now more courage, and consequently more 
curiosity, I took my man Friday with me, giving 
him the sword in his hand, with the bow and ar- 
rows at his back, which I found he could use very 
dexterously, making him carry one gun for me, 
and I two for myself; and away we marched to the 
place where these creatures had been, for I had a 
mind now to get some fuller intelligence of them. 
When I came to the place, my very blood ran chill 
in my veins, and my heart sunk within me, at the 
horror of the spectacle; indeed, it was a dreadful 
sight, at least it was so to me, though Friday made 
nothing of it. The place was covered with human 
bones, the ground dyed with their blood, and great 
pieces of flesh left here and there, half-eaten, man- 
gled, and scorched ; and, in short, all the tokens of 
the triumphant feast they had been making there, 
after a victory over their enemies. I saw three sculls, 
five hands, and the bones of three or four legs and 
feet, and abundance of other parts of the bodies; 
and Friday, by his signs, made me understand that 
they brought over four prisoners to feast upon; 
that three of them were eaten up, and that he, point- 
ing to himself, was the fourth; that there had been 
a great battle between them and their next king, 
whose subjects, it seems, he had been one of, and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


2 99 

that they had taken a great number of prisoners; 
all which were carried to several places by those 
who had taken them in the fight, in order to feast 
upon them, as was done here by these wretches 
upon those they brought hither. 

\I caused Friday to gather up all the sculls, bones, 
flesh, and whatever remained, and lay them to- 
gether in a heap, and make a great fire upon it, 
and burn them all to ashes. I found Friday had 
still a hankering stomach after some of the flesh, 
and was still a cannibal in his nature; but I dis- 
covered so much abhorrence at the very thoughts 
of it, and at the least appearance of it, that he durst 
not discover it; for I had, by some means, let him 
know that I would kill him if he offered it. 

X^Vhen he had done this, we came back to our 
castle ; and there I fell to work for my man Friday : 
and, first of all, I gave him a pair of linen drawers, 
which I had out of the poor gunner’s chest 1 men- 
tioned which I found in the wreck ; and which, with 
a little alteration, fitted him very well, and then I 
made him a jerkin of goat’s skin, as well as my 
skill would allow (for I was now grown a tolerable 
good tailor); and I gave him a cap, which I made 
of hare’s skin, very convenient and fashionable 
enough; and thus he was clothed for the present 
tolerably well, and was mighty well pleased to see 
himself almost as well-clothed as his master. It is 
true, he went awkwardly in those clothes at first: 
wearing the drawers was very awkward to him, and 
the sleeves of the waistcoat galled his shoul- 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


3 00 

ders, and the inside of his arms ; but after a little 
easing them where he complained they hurt him, 
and using himself to them, he took to them at 
length very well. 

\The next day after I came home to my hutch 
with him, I began to consider where I should lodge 
him; and that I might do well for him, and yet be 
perfectly easy myself, I made a little tent for him in 
the vacant place between my two fortifications, in 
the inside of the last and in the outside of the first. 
As there was a door or entrance there into my cave, 
I made a formal framed doorcase, and a door to it 
of boards, and set it up in the passage, a little within 
the entrance; and causing the door to open in the 
inside, I barred it up in the night, taking in my 
ladders too; so that Friday could no way come at 
me in the inside of my innermost wall, without mak- 
ing so much noise in getting over that it must needs 
waken me ; for my first wall had now a complete roof 
over it of long poles, covering all my tent, and lean- 
ing up to the side of the hill; which was again laid 
across with smaller sticks, instead of laths, and then 
thatched over a great thickness with the rice-straw, 
which was strong, like reeds; and at the hole or 
place which was left to go in or out by the ladder, I 
had placed a kind of trap-door, which, if it had been 
attempted on the outside, would not have opened 
at all, but would have fallen down, and made a great 
noise; as to weapons, I took them all into my side 
every night. But I needed none of all this precau- 
tion, for never man had a more faithful, loving, sin- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 301 

cere servant than Friday was to me; without pas- 
sions, sullenness, or designs, perfectly obliged and 
engaged- — his very affections were tied to me, like 
those of a child to a father; and I dare say he would 
have sacrificed his life for the saving mine upon any 
occasion whatsoever: the many testimonies he gave 
me of this put it out of doubt, and soon convinced 
me that I needed to use no precautions as to my 
safety on his account. 

This frequently gave me occasion to observe, and 
that with wonder, that however it had pleased God, 
in his providence, and in the government of the 
works of his hands, to take from so great a part of 
the world of his creatures the best uses to which 
their faculties and the powers of their souls are 
adapted, yet that he has bestowed upon them the 
same powers, the same reason, the same affections, 
the same sentiments of kindness and obligation, 
the same passions and resentments of wrongs, the 
same sense of gratitude, sincerity, fidelity, and all 
the capacities of doing good, and receiving good, 
that he has given to us; and that when he pleases 
to offer them occasions of exerting these, they are 
as ready, nay, more ready, to apply them to the 
right uses for which they were bestowed than we 
are. This made me very melancholy sometimes, in 
reflecting, as the several occasions presented, how 
mean a use we make of all these, even though we 
have these powers enlightened by the great lamp 
of instruction, the Spirit of God, and by the know- 
ledge of his word added to our understanding; and 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


3°2 

why it has pleased God to hide the like saving know- 
ledge from so many millions of souls, who, if I might 
judge by this poor savage, would make a much bet- 
ter use of it than we did. From hence I was some- 
times led too far, to invade the sovereignty of 
Providence, and as it were arraign the justice of so 
arbitrary a disposition of things, that should hide 
that light from some and reveal it to others, and yet 
expect a like duty from both. But I shut it up, and 
checked my thoughts with this conclusion : first, 
that we did not know by what light and law these 
should be condemned; but that as God was neces- 
sarily, and by the nature of his being, infinitely holy 
and just, so it could not be but if these creatures 
were all sentenced to absence from himself, it was on 
account of sinning against that light, which, as the 
Scripture says, was a law to themselves, and by such 
rules as their consciences would acknowledge to be 
just, though the foundation was not discovered to 
us; and, secondly, that still, as we all are the clay in 
the hand of the potter, no vessel could say to him, 
“ Why hast thou formed me thus?” 

But to return to my new companion: — I was 
greatly delighted with him, and made it my business 
to teach him everything that was proper to make 
him useful, handy, and helpful; but especially to 
make him speak, and understand me when I spoke; 
and he was the aptest scholar that ever was; and 
particularly was so merry, so constantly diligent, and 
so pleased when he could but understand me, or 
make me understand him, that it was very pleasant 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


303 

to me to talk to him. Now my life began to be 
so easy that I began to say to myself that could 
I but have been safe from more savages, I cared 
not if I was never to remove from the place where 
I lived. 



fter I had been two or three days returned 



i \ to my castle, I thought that, in order to bring 
Friday off from his horrid way of feeding, and from 
the relish of a cannibal’s stomach, I ought to let 
him taste of other flesh ; so I took him out with 
me one morning to the woods. I went, indeed, in- 
tending to kill a kid out of my own flock, and bring 
it home and dress it; but as I was going, I saw a 
she-goat lying down in the shade, and two young 
kids sitting by her. I catched hold of Friday: — 
“ Hold,” said I ; “ stand still ” ; and made signs to 
him not to stir. Immediately I presented my piece, 
shot, and killed one of the kids. The poor creature, 
who had, at a distance, indeed, seen me kill the 
savage, his enemy, but did not know, nor could 
imagine, how it was done, was sensibly surprised, 
trembled and shook, and looked so amazed, that 
I thought he would have sunk down. He did not 
see the kid I shot at, or perceive I had killed it, 
but ripped up his waistcoat, to feel whether he was 
not wounded, and, as I found presently, thought I 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 305 

was resolved to kill him ; for he came and kneeled 
down to me, and, embracing my knees, said a great 
many things I did not understand; but I could 
easily see the meaning was, to pray me not to kill 
him. 

I soon found away to convince him that I would 
do him no harm ; and taking him up by the hand, 
laughed at him, and pointing to the kid which I had 
killed, beckoned to him to run and fetch it, which 
he did; and while he was wondering, and looking 
to see how the creature was killed, I loaded my gun 
again. By and by, I saw a great fowl, like a hawk, 
sitting upon a tree, within shot; so, to let Friday 
understand a little what I would do, I called him 
to me again, pointed at the fowl, which was indeed 
a parrot, though I thought it had been a hawk; I 
say, pointing to the parrot, and to my gun, and to 
the ground under the parrot, to let him see I would 
make it fall, I made him understand that I would 
shoot and kill that bird: accordingly I fired and 
bade him look, and immediately he saw the parrot 
fall. He stood like one frightened again, notwith- 
standing all I had said to him ; and I found he was 
the more amazed, because he did not see me put 
anything into the gun, but thought that there must 
be some wonderful fund of death and destruction 
in that thing, able to kill man, beast, or bird, or 
anything near or far off; and the astonishment this 
created in him was such as could not wear off for 
a longtime; and I believe, if I would have let him, 
he would have worshipped me and my gun. As for 


3 o 6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

the gun itself, he would not so much as touch it 
for several days after; but he would speak to it, and 
talk to it, as if it had answered him, when he was 
by himself ; which, as I afterwards learned of him, 
was to desire it not to kill him. Well, after his 
astonishment was a little over at this, I pointed to 
him to run and fetch the bird I had shot, which he 
did, but stayed some time; for the parrot, not be- 
ing quite dead, had fluttered away a good distance 
from the place where she fell : however, he found 
her, took her up, and brought her to me ; and as 
I had perceived his ignorance about the gun before, 
I took this advantage to charge the gun again, and 
not to let him see me do it, that I might be ready 
for any other mark that might present ; but nothing 
more offered at that time : so I brought home the 
kid, and the same evening I took the skin off, and 
cut it out as well as I could ; and having a pot fit 
for that purpose, I boiled or stewed some of the 
flesh, and made some very good broth. After I had 
begun to eat some, I gave some to my man, who 
seemed very glad of it, and liked it very well ; but 
that which was strangest to him was to see me eat 
salt with it. He made a sign to me that the salt 
was not good to eat ; and putting a little into his 
mouth, he seemed to nauseate it, and would spit 
and sputter at it, washing his mouth with fresh 
water after it : on the other hand, I took some 
meat into my mouth without salt, and I pretended 
to spit and sputter for want of salt, as fast as he 
had done at the salt ; but it would not do : he 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


307 

would never care for salt with his meat or in his 
broth ; at least, not for a great while, and then but 
very little. 

\ Having thus fed him with boiled meat and broth, 
I was resolved to feast him the next day with roast- 
ing a piece of kid ; this I did by hanging it before 
the fire on a string, as I had seen many people do 
in England, setting two poles up, one on each side 
of the fire, and one across on the top, and tying 
the string to the cross-stick, letting the meat turn 
continually. This Friday admired very much; but 
when he came to taste the flesh, he took so many 
ways to tell me how well he liked it that I could 
not but understand him ; and at last he told me, 
as well as he could, he would never eat man’s flesh 
any more, which I was very glad to hear. 

The next day I set him to work to beating some 
corn out, and sifting it in the manner I used to do, 
as I observed before; and he soon understood how 
to do it as well as I, especially after he had seen what 
the meaning of it was, and that it was to make bread 
of it : for after that I let him see me make my bread, 
and bake it too ; and in a little time F riday was able 
to do all the work for me, as well as I could do it 
myself. 

I began now to consider that, having two mouths 
to feed instead of one, I must provide more ground 
for my harvest, and plant a larger quantity of corn 
than I used to do ; so I marked out a larger piece 
of land, and began the fence in the same manner as 
before, in which Friday worked not only very will- 


3 o8 THE ADVENTURES OF 

ingly and very hard, but did it very cheerfully. And 
I told him what it was for : that it was for corn to 
make more bread, because he was now with me, and 
that I might have enough for him and myself too. 
He appeared very sensible of that part, and let me 
know that he thought I had much more labour 
upon me on his account than I had for myself, and 
that he would work the harder for me if I would 
tell him what to do. 

This was the pleasantest year of all the life I led 
in this place. Friday began to talk pretty well, 
and understand the names of almost everything 
I had occasion to call for and of every place I had 
to send him to, and talked a great deal to me ; so 
that, in short, I began now to have some use for 
my tongue again, which, indeed, I had very little 
occasion for before, that is to say, about speech. 
Besides the pleasure of talking to him, I had 
a singular satisfaction in the fellow himself : his 
simple, unfeigned honesty appeared to me more 
and more every day, and I began really to love 
the creature ; and, on his side, I believe he loved 
me more than it was possible for him ever to 
love anything before. 

I had a mind once to try if he had any hanker- 
ing inclination to his own country again ; and hav- 
ing taught him English so well that he could answer 
me almost any question, I asked him whether the 
nation that he belonged to never conquered in bat- 
tle? At which he smiled, and said, “ Yes, yes, we 
always fight the better ” ; that is, he meant, always 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


309 

get the better in fight ; and so we began the follow- 
ing discourse : 

Master. You always fight the better? how came 
you to be taken prisoner then, Friday ? 

Friday. My nation beat much, for all that. 

Master. How beat? If your nation beat them, 
how came you to be taken ? 

Friday. They more many than my nation in 
the place where me was ; they take one, two, three, 
and me ; my nation overbeat them in the yonder 
place, where me no was; there my nation take one, 
two, great thousand. 

Master. But why did not your side recover 
you from the hands of your enemies, then ? 

Friday. They run one, two, three, and me, and 
make go in the canoe ; my nation have no canoe 
that time. 

Master. Well, Friday, and what does your 
nation do with the men they take? Do they carry 
them away and eat them, as these did ? 

F riday. Yes, my nation eat mans too ; eat all up. 

Master. Where do they carry them ? 

Friday. Go to other place, where they think. 

Master. Do they come hither? 

Friday. Yes, yes, they come hither; come other 
else place. 

Master. Have you been here with them ? 

Friday. Yes, I have been here. (Points to the 
north-west side of the island, which, it seems, was 
their side.) 

By this I understood that my man Friday had 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


3 IQ 

formerly been among the savages who used to come 
on shore on the farther part of the island, on the 
same man-eating occasions he was now brought for: 
and some time after, when I took the courage to 
carry him to that side, being the same I formerly 
mentioned, he presently knew the place, and told 
me he was there once when they eat up twenty men, 
two women, and one child : he could not tell twenty 
in English, but he numbered them by laying so 
many stones in a row, and pointing to me to tell 
them over. 

I have told this passage because it introduces what 
follows : that after I had this discourse with him, I 
asked him how far it was from ourislandtothe shore, 
and whether the canoes were not often lost. He told 
me there was no danger, no canoes ever lost; but 
that, after a little way out to sea, there was a current 
and wind, always one way in the morning, the other 
in the afternoon. This I understood to be no more 
than the sets of the tide, as going out or coming in : 
but I afterwards understood it was occasioned by 
the great draft and reflux of the mighty river Oroo- 
noko, in the mouth or gulf of which river, as I found 
afterwards, our island lay; and that this land which 
I perceived to the west and north-west was the great 
island Trinidad, on the north point of the mouth 
of the river. I asked Friday a thousand questions 
about the country, the inhabitants, the sea, the coast, 
and what nations were near. He told me all he knew, 
with the greatest openness imaginable. I asked him 
the names of the several nations of his sort of peo- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3 11 

pie, but could get no other name than Caribs; from 
whence I easily understood that these were the Ca- 
ribbees, which our maps place on the part of America 
which reaches from the mouth of the river Oroo- 
noko to Guiana, and onwards to St. Martha. He 
told me that up a great way beyond the moon, that 
was, beyond the setting of the moon, which must 
be west from their country, there dwelt white, 
bearded men, like me, and pointed to my great 
whiskers, which I mentioned before ; and that they 
had killed much “mans,” that was his word ; by all 
which I understood he meant the Spaniards, whose 
cruelties in America had been spread over the whole 
country, and were remembered by all the nations, 
from father to son. I inquired if he could tell me 
how I might go from this island and get among 
those white men ; he told me, “ Yes, yes, you may 
go in two canoe.” I could not understand what he 
meant, or make him describe to me what he meant 
by “two canoe”; till, at last, with great difficulty, 
I found he meant it must be in a large boat, as 
big as two canoes. This part of Friday’s discourse 
began to relish with me very well ; and from this 
time I entertained some hopes that, one time or 
other, I might find an opportunity to make my 
escape from this place, and that this poor savage 
might be a means to help me. 

^During the long time that Friday had now been 
with me, and that he began to speak to me and 
understand me, I was not wanting to lay a founda- 
tion of religious knowledge in his mind ; partic- 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


312 

ularly I asked him, one time, who made him ? The 
poor creature did not understand me at all, but 
thought I had asked him who was his father; but 
I took it up by another handle, and asked him who 
made the sea, the ground we walked on, and the 
hills and woods ? He told me, it was one old Bena- 
muckee, that lived beyond all ; he could describe 
nothing of this great person but that he was very 
old, much older, he said, than the sea or the land, 
than the moon or the stars. I asked him then, if 
this old person had made all things, why did not 
all things worship him ? He looked very grave, and 
with a perfect look of innocence said, “All things 
say c O’ to him.” I asked him if the people who 
die in his country went away anywhere ? He said, 
“Yes; they all went to Benamuckee.” Then I 
asked him whether these they ate up went thither 
too ? He said, “ Yes.” From these things I began 
to instruct him in the knowledge of the true God : 
I told him that the great Maker of all things lived 
up there, pointing up towards heaven ; that he gov- 
erned the world by the same power and providence 
by which he made it ; that he was omnipotent, and 
could do everything for us, give everything to 
us, take everything from us ; and thus, by degrees, 
1 opened his eyes. He listened with great atten- 
tion, and received with pleasure the notion of Jesus 
Christ being sent to redeem us, and of the man- 
ner of making our prayers to God, and his being 
able to hear us, even in heaven. He told me one 
day that, if our God could hear us up beyond the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 313 

sun, he must needs be a greater God than their 
Benamuckee, who lived but a little way off, and 
yet could not hear till they went up to the great 
mountains where he dwelt to speak to him. I 
asked him if ever he went thither to speak to him ? 
He said, no, they never went that were young 
men ; none went thither but the old men, whom 
he called their Oowokakee; that is, as I made him 
explain it to me, their religious, or clergy; and 
that they went to say “O” (so he called saying 
prayers), and then came back, and told them what 
Benamuckee said. By this I observed that there is 
priestcraft even among the most blinded, ignorant 
pagans in the world ; and the policy of making a 
secret of religion, in order to preserve the venera- 
tion of the people to the clergy, is not only to be 
found in the Roman, but perhaps among all relig- 
ions in the world, even among the most brutish 
and barbarous savages. 

I endeavoured to clear up this fraud to my man 
Friday, and told him that the pretence of their old 
men going up to the mountains to say “ O ” to their 
god Benamuckee was a cheat ; and their bringing 
word from thence what he said was much more so; 
that if they met with any answer, or spake with any 
one there, it must be with an evil spirit. And then 
I entered into a long discourse with him about the 
Devil, the original of him, his rebellion against God, 
his enmity to man, the reason of it, his setting him- 
self up in the dark parts of the world to be wor- 
shipped instead of God, and as God, and the many 


3 i4 THE ADVENTURES OF 

stratagems he made use of to delude mankind to 
their ruin; how he had a secret access to our pas- 
sions and to our affections, and to adapt his snares 
to our inclinations, so as to cause us even to be our 
own tempters, and run upon our destruction by 
our own choice. 

I found it was not so easy to imprint right no- 
tions in his mind about the Devil as it was about 
the being of a God ; nature assisted all my arguments 
to evidence to him even the necessity of a great 
First Cause and overruling, governing Power, a 
secret, directing Providence, and of the equity and 
justice of paying homage to him that made us, and 
the like ; but there appeared nothing of this kind 
in the notion of an evil spirit; of his original, his 
being, his nature, and, above all, of his inclination 
to do evil, and to draw us in to do so too ; and the 
poor creature puzzled me once in such a manner, 
by a question merely natural and innocent, that I 
scarce knew what to say to him. I had been talk- 
ing a great deal to him of the power of God, his 
omnipotence, his aversion to sin, his being a con- 
suming fire to the workers of iniquity; how, as he 
had made us all, he could destroy us and all the 
world in a moment; and he listened with great se- 
riousness to me all the while. After this, I had been 
telling him how the Devil was God’s enemy in the 
hearts of men, and used all his malice and skill to 
defeat the good designs of Providence, and to ruin 
the kingdom of Christ in the world, and the like. 
“ Well,” says Friday, “ butyou say God is so strong, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 315 

so great; is he not much strong, much might as the 
Devil ? ” — “ Yes, yes,” says I, “ Friday, God is 
stronger than the Devil ; God is above the Devil, 
and therefore we pray to God to tread him down 
under our feet, and enable us to resist his tempta- 
tions, and quench his fiery darts.” “ But,” says he 
again, “if God much stronger, much might as the 
Devil, why God no kill the Devil, so make him no 
more do wicked ? ” I was strangely surprised at this 
question ; and, after all, though I was now an old 
man, yet I was but a young doctor, and ill quali- 
fied for a casuist, or a solver of difficulties, and, at 
first, I could not tell what to say ; so I pretended 
not to hear him, and asked him what he said; but 
he was too earnest for an answer to forget his ques- 
tion, so that he repeated it in the very same broken 
words as above. By this time I had recovered my- 
self a little, and I said, “ God will at last punish 
him severely ; he is reserved for the judgment, and 
is to be cast into the bottomless pit, to dwell with 
everlasting fire.” This did not satisfy Friday; but 
he returns upon me, repeating my words, “ Reserve 
at last ; me no understand; but why not kill the 
Devil now ; not kill great ago ? ” — “ You may as 
well ask me,” said I, “why God does not kill you 
and me when we do wicked things here that offend 
him. We are preserved to repent and be pardoned.” 
He mused some time on this. “Well, well,” says 
he, mighty affectionately, “ that well ; so you, I, 
Devil, all wicked, all preserve, repent, God pardon 
all.” Here I was run down again by him to the last 


3 1 6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

degree ; and it was a testimony to me how the mere 
notions of nature, though they will guide reason- 
able creatures to the knowledge of a God, and of 
a worship or homage due to the supreme being 
of God, as the consequence of our nature, yet no- 
thing but divine revelation can form the knowledge 
of Jesus Christ, and of redemption purchased for 
us, of a Mediator of the new covenant, and of an 
Intercessor at the footstool of God’s throne; I say, 
nothing but a revelation from Heaven can form 
these in the soul; and that, therefore, the gospel 
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I mean the 
Word of God, and the Spirit of God, promised 
for the guide and sanctifier of his people, are the 
absolutely necessary instructors of the souls of men 
in the saving knowledge of God, and the means of 
salvation. 

I therefore diverted the present discourse be- 
tween me and my man, rising up hastily, as upon 
some sudden occasion of going out ; then sending 
him for something a good way off, I seriously 
prayed to God that he would enable me to instruct 
savingly this poor savage, assisting, by his Spirit, 
the heart of the poor ignorant creature to receive 
the light of the knowledge of God in Christ, re- 
conciling him to himself, and would guide me to 
speak so to him from the word of God as his con- 
science might be convinced, his eyes opened, and 
his soul saved. When he came again to me I en- 
tered into a long discourse with him upon the 
subject of the redemption of man by the Saviour 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 3 i 7 

of the world, and of the doctrine of the gospel 
preached from heaven, viz., of repentance towards 
God, and faith in our blessed Lord Jesus. I then 
explained to him, as well as I could, why our 
blessed Redeemer took not on him the nature of 
angels, but the seed of Abraham ; and how, for 
that reason, the fallen angels had no share in the 
redemption ; that he came only to the lost sheep 
of the house of Israel, and the like. 

I had, God knows, more sincerity than know- 
ledge in all the methods I took for this poor crea- 
ture’s instruction, and must acknowledge, what I 
believe all that act upon the same principle will 
find, that in laying things open to him I really in- 
formed and instructed myself in many things that 
either I did not know, or had not fully considered 
before, but which occurred naturally to my mind 
upon searching into them, for the information of 
this poor savage ; and I had more affection in my 
inquiry after things upon this occasion than ever 
I felt before, so that, whether this poor wild wretch 
was the better for me or no, I had great reason to 
be thankful that ever he came to me. My grief 
sat lighter upon me ; my habitation grew comfort- 
able to me beyond measure ; and when I reflected 
that in this solitary life which I had been confined 
to, I had not only been moved to look up to 
Heaven myself, and to seek the hand that had 
brought me here, but was now to be made an in- 
strument, under Providence, to save the life, and, 
for aught I knew, the soul, of a poor savage, and 


3 1 8 THE ADVENTURES OF 

bring him to the true knowledge of religion and of 
the Christian doctrine, that he might know Christ 
Jesus, in whom is life eternal ; I say, when I re- 
flected upon all these things, a secret joy ran through 
every part of my soul, and I frequently rejoiced 
that ever I was brought to this place, which I had 
so often thought the most dreadful of all afflictions 
that could possibly have befallen me. 

I continued in this thankful frame all the re- 
mainder of my time ; and the conversation which 
employed the hours between Friday and me was 
such as made the three years which we lived there 
together perfectly and completely happy, if any 
such thing as complete happiness can be formed 
in a sublunary state. This savage was now a good 
Christian, a much better than I ; though I have 
reason to hope, and bless God for it, that we were 
equally penitent, and comforted, restored peni- 
tents. We had here the word of God to read, and 
no farther off from his Spirit to instruct than if 
we had been in England. I always applied myself, 
in reading the Scriptures, to let him know, as well 
as I could, the meaning of what I read ; and he 
again, by his serious inquiries and questionings, 
made me, as I said before, a much better scholar 
in the Scripture-knowledge than I should ever have 
been by my own private reading. Another thing 
I cannot refrain from observing here also, from 
experience in this retired part of my life, viz., how 
infinite and inexpressible a blessing it is that the 
knowledge of God, and of the doctrine of salva- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3i9 

tion by Christ Jesus, is so plainly laid down in the 
word of God, so easy to be received and under- 
stood, that, as the bare reading the Scripture made 
me capable of understanding enough of my duty 
to carry me directly on to the great work of sin- 
cere repentance for my sins, and laying hold of a 
Saviour for life and salvation, to a stated reforma- 
tion in practice, and obedience to all God’s com- 
mands, and this without any teacher or instructor, 
I mean human ; so, the same plain instruction suf- 
ficiently served to the enlightening this savage 
creature, and bringing him to be such a Christian 
as I have known few equal to him in my life. 

As to all the disputes, wrangling, strife, and con- 
tention, which have happened in the world about 
religion, whether niceties in doctrines, or schemes 
of church government, they were all perfectly use- 
less 'to us, and, for aught I can yet see, they have 
been so to the rest of the world. We had the sure 
guide to heaven, viz., the word of God, and we had, 
blessed be God, comfortable views of the Spirit of 
God teaching and instructing us by his word, lead- 
ing us into all truth, and making us both willing 
and obedient to the instruction of his word. And I 
cannot see the least use that the greatest knowledge 
of the disputed points of religion, which have made 
such confusions in the world, would have been to 
us, if we could have obtained it. — But I must go 
on with the historical part of things, and take every 
part in its order. 



A fter Friday and I became more intimately 
acquainted, and that he could understand 
almost all I said to him, and speak pretty fluently, 
though in broken English, to me, I acquainted him 
with my own history, or at least so much of it as 
related to my coming to this place: how I had lived 
here, and how long; I let him into the mystery, for 
such it was to him, of gunpowder and bullet, and 
taught him how to shoot. I gave him a knife, which 
he was wonderfully delighted with ; and I made him 
a belt with a frog hanging to it, such as in England 
we wear hangers in ; and in the frog, instead of a 
hanger, I gave him a hatchet, which was not only 
as good a weapon, in some cases, but much more 
useful upon other occasion. 

I described to him the country of Europe, par- 
ticularly England, which I came from ; how we lived, 
how we worshipped God, how we behaved to one 
another; and how we traded in ships to all parts 
of the world. I gave him an account of the wreck 
which I had been on board of, and showed him, as 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


321 

near as I could, the place where she lay; but she 
was all beaten in pieces before, and gone. I showed 
him the ruins of our boat, which we lost when we 
escaped, and which I could not stir with my whole 
strength then ; but was now fallen almost all to pieces. 
Upon seeing this boat, Friday stood musing a great 
while, and said nothing. I asked him what it was 
he studied upon ? At last, says he, “ Me see such 
boat like come to place at my nation.” I did not 
understand him a good while; but, at last, when I 
had examined farther into it, I understood by him 
that a boat, such as that had been, came on shore 
upon the country where he lived; that is, as he ex- 
plained it, was driven thither by stress of weather. 
I presently imagined that some European ship must 
have been cast away upon their coast, and the boat 
might get loose, and drive ashore ; but was so dull 
that I never once thought of men making their 
escape from a wreck thither, much less whence they 
might come : so I only inquired after a description 
of the boat. 

Friday described the boat to me well enough ; 
but brought me better to understand him when he 
added, with some warmth, “We save the white 
mans from drown. ” Then I presently asked him if 
there were any white mans, as he called them, in the 
boat? “Yes,”hesaid; “the boat full of white mans.’’ 
I asked him how many ? He told upon his fingers 
seventeen. I asked him then what became of them ? 
He told me, “They live, they dwell at my nation.” 

This put new thoughts into my head; for I pre- 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


322 

sently imagined that these might be the men be- 
longing to the ship that was cast away in the sight of 
my island, as I now called it; and who, after the ship 
was struck on the rock, and they saw her inevitably 
lost, had saved themselves in their boat, and were 
landed upon that wild shore among the savages. 
Upon this, I inquired of him more critically what 
was become of them; he assured me they lived still 
there; that they had been there about four years; 
that the savages let them alone, and gave them vict- 
uals to live on. I asked him how it came to pass 
they did not kill them, and eat them? He said, 
“No, they make brother with them” ; that is, as I 
understood him,a truce; and then he added, “ They 
no eat mans but when make the war fight”; that 
is to say, they never eat any men but such as come 
to fight with them, and are taken in battle. 

It was after this some considerable time that be- 
ing upon the top of the hill, at the east side of the 
island, from whence, as I have said, I had, in a clear 
day, discovered the main or continent of America, 
Friday, the weather being very serene, looks very 
earnestly towards the main land, and in a kind of 
surprise falls a-jumping and dancing, and calls out 
to me, for I was at some distance from him. I asked 
him what was the matter? “O joy!” says he, “O 
glad! there see my country, there my nation!” I 
observed an extraordinary sense of pleasure ap- 
peared in his face, and his eyes sparkled, and his 
countenance discovered a strange eagerness, as if he 
had a mind to be in his own country again. This 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


323 

observation of mine put a great many thoughts into 
me, which made me at first not so easy about my 
new man, Friday, as I was before; and I made no 
doubt but that if Friday could get back to his own 
nation again, he would not only forget all his relig- 
ion, but all his obligation to me, and would be for- 
ward enough to give his countrymen an account 
of me, and come back perhaps with a hundred or 
two of them, and make a feast upon me, at which 
he might be as merry as he used to be with those of 
his enemies, when they were taken in war. But I 
wronged the poor honest creature very much, for 
which I was very sorry afterwards. However, as my 
jealousy increased, and held me some weeks, I was 
a little more circumspect, and not so familiar and 
kind to him as before : in which I was certainly in 
the wrong, too; the honest, grateful creature having 
no thought about it but what consisted with the 
best principles, both as a religious Christian, and 
as a grateful friend, as appeared afterwards to my 
full satisfaction. 

While my jealousy of him lasted, you may be 
sure I was every day pumping him, to see if hewould 
discover any of the new thoughts which I suspected 
were in him : but I found everything he said was so 
honest and so innocent that I could find nothing to 
nourish my suspicion ; and, in spite of all my un- 
easiness, he made me at last entirely his own again ; 
nor did he, in the least, perceive that I was uneasy, 
and therefore I could not suspect him of deceit. 

One day, walking up the same hill, but the 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


3 2 4 

weather being hazy at sea, so that we could not see 
the continent, I called to him, and said, “ Friday, 
do not you wish yourself in your own country, your 
own nation?” “Yes,” he said, “I be much O glad 
to be at my own nation.” “ What would you do 
there? ” said I ; “would you turn wild again, eat 
men’s flesh again, and be a savage, as you were be- 
fore ? ” He looked full of concern, and shaking his 
head, said, “ No, no ; Friday tell them to live good, 
tell them to pray God, tell them to eat corn-bread, 
cattle-flesh, milk; no eat man again.” “Why, 
then,” said I to him, “ they will kill you.” He 
looked grave at that, and then said, “ No, no ; they 
no kill me, they willing love learn.” He meant by 
this, they would be willing to learn. He added, they 
learned much of the bearded mans that came in the 
boat. Then I asked him if he would go back to 
them. He smiled at that, and told me that he could 
not swim so far. I told him I would make a canoe 
for him. He told me he would go if I would go 
with him. “ I go? ” says I ; “ why, they will eat me, 
if I come there.” “No, no,” says he; “me make 
they no eat you ; me make they much love you.” 
He meant he would tell them how I had killed his 
enemies and saved his life, and so he would make 
them love me. Then he told me, as well as he could, 
how kind they were to seventeen white men, or 
bearded men, as he called them, who came on shore 
there in distress. 

From this time I confess I had a mind to ven- 
ture over, and see if I could possibly join with those 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 325 

bearded men, who, I made no doubt, were Span- 
iards, and Portuguese : not doubting but if I could, 
we might find some method to escape from thence, 
being upon the continent, and a good company 
together, better than I could from an island forty 
miles off the shore, and alone, without help. So, 
after some days, I took Friday to work again, by 
way of discourse; and told him I would give him a 
boat to go back to his own nation ; and accordingly 
I carried him to my frigate, which lay on the other 
side of the island, and having cleared it of water 
(for I always kept it sunk in water) I brought it out, 
showed it him, and we both went into it. I found 
he was a most dexterous fellow at managing it, and 
would make it go almost as swift again as I could. 
So when he was in, I said to him, “ Well, now, Fri- 
day, shall we go to your nation ? ” He looked very 
dull at my saying so ; which, it seems, was because 
he thought the boat too small to go so far ; I then 
told him I had a bigger ; so the next day I went 
to the place where the first boat lay which I had 
made, but which I could not get into the water. He 
said that was big enough: but then, as I had taken 
no care of it, and it had lain two- or three-and- 
twenty years there, the sun had split and dried it, 
that it was in a manner rotten. Friday told me such 
a boat would do very well, and would carry “ much 
enough vittle, drink, bread ” ; that was his way of 
talking. 

Upon the whole, I was by this time so fixed upon 
my design of going over with him to the continent 


326 THE ADVENTURES OF 

that I told him we would go and make one as big 
as that, and he should go home in it. He answered 
not one word, but looked very grave and sad. I 
asked him what was the matter with him ? He asked 
me again, “Why you angry mad with Friday? 
What me done?” I asked him what he meant? I 
told him I was not angry with him at all. “No 
angry?” says he, repeating the words several times; 
“why send Friday home away to my nation?” 
“Why,” says I, “Friday, did notyousay you wished 
you were there? ” “Yes, yes,” says he, “wish be 
both there; no wish Friday there, no master there.” 
In a word, he would not think of going there with- 
out me. “ I go there, Friday ! ” says I ; “ what shall 
I do there ? ” He returned very quick upon me at 
this : “ You do great deal much good,” says he ; 
“you teach wild mans be good, sober, tame mans ; 
you tell them know God, pray God, and live new 
life.” “Alas! Friday,” says I, “thou knowest not 
what thou sayest; I am but an ignorant man my- 
self.” “Yes, yes,” says he, “you teachee me good, 
you teachee them good.” “ No, no, Friday,” says 
I, “ you shall go without me; leave me here to live 
by myself, as I did before.” He looked confused 
again at that word ; and running to one of the hatch- 
ets which he used to wear, he takes it up hastily, and 
gives it to me. “What must I do with this?” says 
I to him. “You take kill Friday,” says he. “What 
must I kill you for? ” said I again. He returns very 
quick, “What you send Friday away for? Take kill 
Friday, no send Friday away.” This he spoke so 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3 2 7 

earnestly that I saw tears stand in his eyes ; in a 
word, I so plainly discovered the utmost affection in 
him to me, and a firm resolution in him, that I told 
him then, and often after, that I would never send 
him away from me if he was willing to stay with me. 

Upon the whole, as I found, by all his discourse, 
a settled affection to me, and that nothing should 
part him from me, so I found all the foundation of 
his desire to go to his own country was laid in his 
ardent affection to the people, and his hopes of my 
doing them good ; a thing, which, as I had no notion 
of myself, so I had not the least thought, or inten- 
tion, or desire, of undertaking it. But still I found 
a strong inclination to my attempting an escape, as 
above, founded on the supposition gathered from 
the discourse, viz., that there were seventeen bearded 
men there; and, therefore, without any more delay, 
I went to work with Friday to find out a great tree 
proper to fell, and make a large periagua, or canoe, 
to undertake the voyage. There were trees enough 
in the island to have built a little fleet, not of peri- 
aguas, or canoes, but even of good large vessels ; 
but the main thing I looked at was to get one so 
near the water that we might launch it when it was 
made, to avoid the mistake I committed at first. 
At last, Friday pitched upon a tree ; for I found he 
knew much better than I what kind of wood was 
fittest for it ; nor can I tell, to this day, what wood 
to call the tree we cut down, except that it was very 
like the tree we call fustic, or between that and the 
Nicaragua wood, for it was much of the same colour 


328 THE ADVENTURES OF 

and smell. Friday was for burning the hollow or 
cavity of this tree out, to make it for a boat, but I 
showed him how to cut it with tools ; which, after 
I had showed him how to use, he did very handily: 
and in about a month’s hard labour we finished it, 
and made it very handsome ; especially when, with 
our axes, which I showed him how to handle, we 
cut and hewed the outside into the true shape of 
a boat. After this, however, it cost us near a fort- 
night’s time to get her along, as it were inch by 
inch, upon great rollers into the water ; but when 
she was in, she would have carried twenty men with 
great ease. 

When she was in the water, and though she was 
so big, it amazed me to see with what dexterity, and 
how swift, my man Friday would manage her, turn 
her, and paddle her along. So I asked him if he 
would, and if we might, venture over in her. “ Yes,” 
he said, “we venture over in her very well, though 
great blow wind.” However, I had a further de- 
sign, that he knew nothing of, and that was to 
make a mast and a sail, and to fit her with an an- 
chor and cable. As to a mast, that was easy enough 
to get: so I pitched upon a straight young cedar 
tree, which I found near the place, and which there 
were great plenty of in the island ; and I set Fri- 
day to work to cut it down, and gave him direc- 
tions how to shape and order it. But as to the sail, 
that was my particular care. I knew I had old sails, 
or rather pieces of old sails, enough ; but as I had 
had them now six-and-twenty years by me, and 



IN ABOUT A MONTH’S HARD LABOR WE FINISHED IT 


































































































































































































































































































































































































ROBINSON CRUSOE 


329 

had not been very careful to preserve them, not 
imagining that I should ever have this kind of use 
for them, I did not doubt but they were all rotten, 
and, indeed, most of them were so. However, I 
found two pieces, which appeared pretty good, and 
with these I went to work ; and with a great deal 
of pains, and awkward stitching, you may be sure, 
for want of needles, I, at length, made a three- 
cornered ugly thing, like what we call in England 
a shoulder-of-mutton sail, to go with a boom at 
bottom, and a little short sprit at the top, such as 
usually our ship’s long-boats sail with, and such as 
I best knew how to manage, as it was such a one 
I had to the boat in which I made my escape from 
Barbary, as related in the first part of my story. 

I was near two months performing this last 
work, viz., rigging and fitting my mast and sails ; 
for I finished them very complete, making a small 
stay, and a sail, or foresail, to it, to assist if we 
should turn to windward ; and, which was more 
than all, I fixed a rudder to the stern of her to steer 
with. I was but a bungling shipwright, yet, as I 
knew the usefulness, and even necessity, of such 
a thing, I applied myself with so much pains to do 
it that at last I brought it to pass ; though, con- 
sidering the many dull contrivances I had for it that 
failed, I think it cost me almost as much labour 
as making the boat. 

After all this was done, I had my man Friday 
to teach as to what belonged to the navigation of 
my boat ; for, though he knew very well how to 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


330 

paddle a canoe, he knew nothing what belonged 
to a sail and a rudder ; and was the most amazed 
when he saw me work the boat to and again in the 
sea by the rudder, and how the sail gibed, and 
filled this way, or that way, as the course we sailed 
changed; I say, when he saw this, he stood like 
one astonished and amazed. However, with a lit- 
tle use, I made all these things familiar to him, 
and he became an expert sailor, except that, as to 
the compass, I could make him understand very 
little of that. On the other hand, as there was very 
little cloudy weather, and seldom or never any fogs 
in those parts, there was the less occasion for a 
compass, seeing the stars were always to be seen 
by night, and the shore by day, except in the rainy 
seasons, and then nobody cared to stir abroad, 
either by land or sea. 

I was now entered on the seven-and-twentieth 
year of my captivity in this place ; though the 
three last years that I had this creature with me 
ought rather to be left out of the account, my hab- 
itation being quite of another kind than in all the 
rest of the time. I kept the anniversary of my 
landing here with the same thankfulness to God 
for his mercies as at first : and if I had such cause 
of acknowledgment at first, I had much more so 
now, having such additional testimonies of the care 
of Providence over me, and the great hopes I had 
of being effectually and speedily delivered ; for I 
had an invincible impression upon my thoughts 
that my deliverance was at hand, and that I should 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


33i 

not be another year in this place. I went on, how- 
ever, with my husbandry, digging, planting, and 
fencing, as usual. I gathered and cured my grapes, 
and did every necessary thing as before. 

The rainy season was, in the mean time, upon 
me, when I kept more within-doors than at other 
times. We had stowed our own vessel as secure as 
we could, bringing her up into the creek, where, 
as I said in the beginning, I landed my rafts from 
the ship; and hauling her up to the shore, at high- 
water mark, I made my man Friday dig a little 
dock, just big enough to hold her, and just deep 
enough to give her water enough to float in; and 
then, when the tide was out, we made a strong 
dam across the end of it, to keep the water out ; 
and so she lay dry, as to the tide, from the sea ; 
and to keep the rain off, we laid a great many 
boughs of trees, so thick that she was as well 
thatched as a house; and thus we waited for the 
months of November and December, in which I 
designed to make my adventure. 

When the settled season began to come in, as 
the thought of my design returned with the fair 
weather, I was preparing daily for the voyage, and 
the first thing I did was to lay by a certain quan- 
tity of provisions, being the stores for our voyage; 
and intended, in a week or a fortnight’s time, to 
open the dock, and launch out our boat. I was 
busy one morning upon something of this kind 
when I called to Friday, and bid him go to the 
sea-shore, and see if he could find a turtle, or tor- 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


332 

toise, a thing which we generally got once a week, 
for the sake of the eggs as well as the flesh. Fri- 
day had not been long gone when he came run- 
ning back, and flew over my outer wall, or fence, 
like one that felt not the ground, or the steps he 
set his feet on; and before I had time to speak to 
him, he cries out to me, “O master! O master! O 
sorrow! O bad !” “ What’s the matter, Friday? ” 
says I. “ O yonder, there,” says he, “ one, two, 
three canoe : one, two, three ! ” By this way of 
speaking I concluded there were six ; but, on in- 
quiry, I found it was but three. “Well, Friday,” 
says I, “do not be frightened!” So I heartened 
him up as well as I could ; however, I saw the poor 
fellow was most terribly scared; for nothing ran in 
his head but that they were come to look for him, 
and would cut him in pieces, and eat him ; and the 
poor fellow trembled so that I scarce knew what 
to do with him. I comforted him as well as I could, 
and told him I was in as much danger as he, and 
that they would eat me as well as him. “ But,” says 
I, “ Friday, we must resolve to fight them. Can 
you fight, Friday ?” “Me shoot,” says he; “but 
there come many great number.” “No matter 
for that,” said I, again, “ our guns will fright them 
that we do not kill.” So I asked him whether, if I 
resolved to defend him, he would defend me, and 
stand by me; and do just as I bid him. He said, 
“Me die, when you bid die, master.” So I went 
and fetched a good dram of rum and gave him ; for 
I had been so good a husband of my rum that I 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 333 

had a great deal left. When he drank it, I made 
him take the two fowling-pieces, which we always 
carried, and loaded them with large swan-shot, as 
big as small pistol-bullets; then I took four mus- 
kets, and loaded them with two slugs and five small 
bullets each ; and my two pistols I loaded with a 
brace of bullets each ; I hung my great sword, as 
usual, naked by my side, and gave F riday his hatchet. 
When I had thus prepared myself, I took my per- 
spective glass, and went up to the side of the hill, 
to see what I could discover ; and I found quickly, 
by my glass, that there were one-and-twenty sav- 
ages, three prisoners, and three canoes; and that 
their whole business seemed to be the triumphant 
banquet upon these three human bodies ; a bar- 
barous feast indeed ! but nothing more than, as I 
had observed, was usual with them. I observed also 
that they were landed, not where they had done 
when Friday made his escape, but nearer to my 
creek, where the shore was low, and where a thick 
wood came almost close down to the sea. This, 
with the abhorrence of the inhuman errand these 
wretches came about, filled me with such indigna- 
tion that I came down again to Friday, and told 
him I was resolved to go down to them and kill 
them all; and asked him if he would stand by me. 
He had now got over his fright, and his spirits 
being a little raised with the dram I had given him, 
he was very cheerful, and told me, as before, he 
would die when I bid die. 

In this fit of fury, I took and divided the arms 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


334 

which I had charged, as before, between us : I gave 
Friday one pistol to stick in his girdle, and three 
guns upon his shoulder; and I took one pistol, and 
the other three guns myself ; and in this posture we 
marched out. I took a small bottle of rum in my 
pocket, and gave Friday a large bag with more 
powder and bullets ; and, as to orders, I charged 
him to keep close behind me, and not to stir, or 
shoot, or do anything, till I bid him ; and, in the 
mean time, not to speak a word. In this posture, 
I fetched a compass to my right hand of near a 
mile, as well to get over the creek as to get into the 
wood, so that I might come within shot of them 
before I should be discovered, which I had seen, by 
my glass, it was easy to do. 

While I was making this march, my former 
thoughts returning, I began to abate my resolu- 
tion : I do not mean that I entertained any fear of 
their number; for, as they were naked, unarmed 
wretches, it is certain I was superior to them ; nay, 
though I had been alone. But it occurred to my 
thoughts, what call, what occasion, much less what 
necessity I was in, to go and dip my hands in blood, 
to attack people who had neither done nor intended 
me any wrong; who, as to me, were innocent, and 
whose barbarous customs were their own disaster; 
being, in them, a token indeed of God’s having left 
them, with the other nations of that part of the 
world, to such stupidity, and to such inhuman 
courses; but did not call me to take upon me to be 
a judge of their actions, much less an executioner of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 335 

his justice ; that, whenever he thought fit, he would 
take the cause into his own hands, and, by national 
vengeance, punish them, as a people, for national 
crimes ; but that, in the mean time, it was none of 
my business ; that, it was true, Friday might justify 
it, because he was a declared enemy, and in a state 
of war with those very particular people, and it was 
lawful for him to attack them ; but I could not say 
the same with respect to myself. These things were 
so warmly pressed upon my thoughts all the way as 
I went that I resolved I would only go and place 
myself near them, that I might observe their 
barbarous feast, and that I would act then as God 
should direct : but that, unless something offered 
that was more a call to me than yet I knew of, I 
would not meddle with them. 

With this resolution I entered the wood, and, 
with all possible wariness and silence, Friday fol- 
lowing close at my heels, I marched till I came to 
the skirt of the wood, on the side which was next 
to them, only that one corner of the wood lay be- 
tween me and them. Here I called softly to Friday, 
and showing him a great tree, which was just at the 
corner of the wood, I bade him go to the tree, and 
bring me word if he could see there plainly what 
they were doing. He did so, and came immediately 
back to me, and told me they might be plainly 
viewed there; that they were all about their fire, 
eating the flesh of one of their prisoners, and that 
another lay bound upon the sand, a little from them, 
which, he said, they would kill next, and which fired 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


336 

all the very soul within me. He told me it was not 
one of their nation, but one of the bearded men he 
had told me of, that came to their country in the 
boat. I was filled with horror at the very naming 
the white, bearded man ; and, going to the tree, I 
saw plainly, by my glass, a white man, who lay upon 
the beach of the sea, with his hands and his feet tied 
with flags, or things like rushes, and that he was an 
European, and had clothes on. 

There was another tree, and a little thicket be- 
yond it, about fifty yards nearer to them than the 
place where I was, which, by going a little way about, 
I saw I might come at undiscovered, and that then 
I should be within half a shot of them ; so I with- 
held my passion, though I was indeed enraged to 
the highest degree ; and going back about twenty 
paces, I got behind some bushes, which held all the 
way till I came to the other tree ; and then came to 
a little rising ground, which gave me a full view of 
them, at the distance of about eighty yards. 



I had now not a moment to lose, for nineteen 
of the dreadful wretches sat upon the ground, 
all close-huddled together, and had just sent the 
other two to butcher the poor Christian, and bring 
him, perhaps, limb by limb, to their fire; and* they 
were stooping down to untie the bands at his feet. 
I turned to Friday — “Now, Friday,” said I, “ do 
as I bid thee.” Friday said he would. “Then, Fri- 
day,” says I, “do exactly as you see me do; fail 
in nothing.” So I set down one of the muskets 
and the fowling-piece upon the ground, and Friday 
did the like by his; and with the other musket I 
took my aim at the savages, bidding him to do the 
like ; then asking him if he was ready, he said, 
“Yes.” “Then fire at them,” said I; and the 
same moment I fired also. 

Friday took his aim so much better than I that 
on the side that he shot, he killed two of them, 
and wounded three more ; and on my side, I killed 
one and wounded two. They were, you may be 
sure, in a dreadful consternation ; and all of them 


338 THE ADVENTURES OF 

who were not hurt jumped upon their feet, but did 
not immediately know which way to run, or which 
way to look, for they knew not from which their 
destruction came. Friday kept his eyes close upon 
me that, as I had bid him, he might observe what 
I did; so, as soon as the first shot was made, I 
threw down the piece, and took up the fowling- 
piece, and Friday did the like : he saw me cock and 
present; he did the same again. “Are you ready, 
Friday ? ” said I. “ Yes,” says he. “ Let fly, then,” 
says I, “in the name of God! ” And with that, I 
fired again among the amazed wretches, and so did 
Friday; and as our pieces were now loaden with 
what I called swan-shot, or small pistol-bullets, we 
found only two drop, but so many were wounded 
that they ran about yelling and screaming like mad 
creatures, all bloody, and most of them miserably 
wounded, whereof three more fell quickly after, 
though not quite dead. 

“Now, Friday,” says I, laying down the dis- 
charged pieces, and taking up the musket which 
was yet loaden, “follow me”; which he did, with 
a great deal of courage; upon which I rushed out 
of the wood, and showed myself, and Friday close 
at my foot. As soon as I perceived they saw me, 
I shouted as loud as I could, and bade Friday do 
so too; and running as fast as I could, which, by 
the way, was not very fast, being loaded with arms 
as I was, I made directly towards the poor victim, 
who was, as I said, lying upon the beach, or shore, 
between the place where they sat and the sea. The 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


339 

two butchers, who were just going to work with 
him, had left him at the surprise of our first fire, 
and fled in a terrible fright to the sea-side, and had 
jumped into a canoe, and three more of the rest 
made the same way. I turned to Friday, and bade 
him step forwards and fire at them; he understood 
me immediately, and running about forty yards, 
to be nearer them, he shot at them, and I thought 
he had killed them all, for I saw them all fall of 
a heap into the boat, though I saw two of them up 
again quickly; however, he killed two of them, and 
wounded the third, so that he lay down in the 
bottom of the boat as if he had been dead. 

While my man Friday fired at them, I pulled out 
my knife, and cut the flags that bound the poor 
victim ; and loosing his hands and feet, I lifted him 
up, and asked him in the Portuguese tongue, what 
he was. He answered in Latin, “ Christianus ” ; 
but was so weak and faint that he could scarce stand 
or speak. I took my bottle out of my pocket, and 
gave it him, making signs that he should drink, 
which he did; and I gave him a piece of bread, 
which he ate. Then I asked him what countryman 
he was, and he said, “ Espagniole” ; and being a 
little recovered, let me know, by all the signs he 
could possibly make, how much he was in my debt 
for his deliverance. “ Signor,” said I, with as much 
Spanish as I could make up, “we will talk after- 
wards, but we must fight now: if you have any 
strength left, take this pistol and sword, and lay 
about you.” He took them very thankfully ; and 


\ 


34 o THE ADVENTURES OF 

no sooner had he the arms in his hands but, as if 
they had put new vigour into him, he flew upon his 
murderers like a fury, and had cut two of them in 
pieces in an instant; for the truth is, as the whole 
was a surprise to them, so the poor creatures were 
so much frightened with the noise of our pieces 
that they fell down for mere amazement and fear, 
and had no more power to attempt their own es- 
cape than their flesh had to resist our shot; and 
that was the case of those five that Friday shot at 
in the boat; for as three of them fell with the hurt 
they received, so the other two fell with the fright. 

I kept my piece in my hand, still without firing, 
being willing to keep my charge ready, because I 
had given the Spaniard my pistol and sword ; so 
I called to Friday, and bade him run up to the 
tree from whence we first fired, and fetch the arms 
which lay there that had been discharged, which 
he did with great swiftness ; and then giving him 
my musket, I sat down myself to load all the rest 
again, and bade them come to me when they 
wanted. While I was loading these pieces, there 
happened a fierce engagement between the Spaniard 
and one of the savages, who made at him with one 
of their great wooden swords, the same-like weapon 
that was to have killed him before, if I had not 
prevented it. The Spaniard, who was as bold and 
brave as could be imagined, though weak, had 
fought this Indian a good while, and had cut him 
two great wounds on his head; but the savage, being 
a stout, lusty fellow, closing in with him, had 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 341 

thrown him down, being faint, and was wringing 
my sword out of his hand ; when the Spaniard, 
though undermost, wisely quitted the sword, drew 
the pistol from his girdle, shot the savage through 
the body, and killed him upon the spot, before I, 
who was running to help him, could come near 
him. 

Friday, being now left to his liberty, pursued the 
flying wretches with no weapon in his hand but 
his hatchet ; and with that he dispatched those 
three, who, as I said before, were wounded at first, 
and fallen, and all the rest he could come up with ; 
and the Spaniard coming to me for a gun, I gave 
him one of the fowling-pieces, with which he pur- 
sued two of the savages, and wounded them both; 
but, as he was not able to run, they both got from 
him into the wood, where Friday pursued them, 
and killed one of them, but the other was too 
nimble for him ; and though he was wounded, yet 
had plunged himself into the sea, and swam, with 
all his might, off to those two who were left in the 
canoe, which three in the canoe, with one wounded, 
that we knew not whether he died or no, were all 
that escaped our hands of one-and-twenty. The 
account of the whole is as follows : three killed at 
our first shot from the tree ; two killed at the next 
shot ; two killed by Friday in the boat; two killed 
by Friday of those at first wounded ; one killed by 
Friday in the wood ; three killed by the Spaniard; 
four killed, being found dropped here and there 
of their wounds, or killed by Friday in his chase 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


34 2 

of them ; four escaped in the boat, whereof one 
wounded, if not dead, — twenty-one in all. 

Those that were in the canoe worked hard to 
get out of gunshot, and though Friday made two 
or three shots at them, I did not find that he hit 
any of them. Friday would fain have had me take 
one of their canoes and pursue them; and indeed, 
I was very anxious about their escape, lest, carry- 
ing the news home to their people, they should 
come back perhaps with two or three hundred of 
the canoes, and devour us by mere multitude ; so 
I consented to pursue them by sea, and running 
to one of their canoes, I jumped in and bade Fri- 
day follow me ; but when I was in the canoe, I was 
surprised to find another poor creature lie there, 
bound hand and foot, as the Spaniard was, for the 
slaughter, and almost dead with fear, not knowing 
what was the matter, for he had not been able to 
look up over the side of the boat, he was tied so 
hard neck and heels, and had been tied so long 
that he had really but little life in him. I immedi- 
ately cut the twisted flags or rushes, which they 
had bound him with, and would have helped him 
up ; but he could not stand or speak, but groaned 
most piteously, believing, it seems, still, that he was 
only unbound in order to be killed. When Friday 
came to him, I bade him speak to him, and tell him 
of his deliverance ; and, pulling out my bottle, made 
him give the poor wretch a dram ; which, with the 
news of his being delivered, revived him, and he sat 
up in the boat. But when Friday came to hear him 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


343 

speak, and look in his face, it would have moved 
any one into tears to have seen how Friday kissed 
him, embraced him, hugged him, cried, laughed, 
hallooed, jumped about, danced, sung; then cried 
again, wrung his hands, beat his own face and head ; 
and then sung and jumped about again, like a dis- 
tracted creature. It was a good while before I could 
make him speak to me, or tell me what was the 
matter; but when he came a little to himself, he 
told me that it was his father. 

It is not easy for me to express how it moved me 
to see what ecstasy and filial affection had worked 
in this poor savage at the sight of his father, and 
of his being delivered from death; nor, indeed, can 
I describe half the extravagancies of his affection 
after this ; for he went into the boat and out of the 
boat a great many times; when he went in to him, 
he would sit down by him, open his breast, and 
hold his father’s head close to his bosom for many 
minutes together, to nourish it ; then he took his 
arms and ankles, which were numbed and stiff with 
the binding, and chafed and rubbed them with his 
hands; and I, perceiving what the case was, gave 
him some rum out of my bottle to rub them with, 
which did them a great deal of good. 

This affair put an end to our pursuit of the canoe 
with the other savages, who were got now almost 
out of sight; and it was happy for us that we did 
not, for it blew so hard within two hours after, and 
before they could be got a quarter of their way, 
and continued blowing so hard all night, and that 


344 THE ADVENTURES OF 

from the north-west, which was against them, that 
I could not suppose their boat could live, or that 
they ever reached their own coast. 

But to return to Friday : he was so busy about 
his father that I could not find in my heart to take 
him off for some time; but after I thought he could 
leave him a little, I called him to me, and he came 
jumping and laughing, and pleased to the highest 
extreme. Then I asked him if he had given his 
father any bread. He shook his head, and said, 
“ None ; ugly dog eat all up self.” I then gave him 
a cake of bread, out of a little pouch I carried on 
purpose ; I also gave him a dram for himself, but 
he would not taste it, but carried it to his father. I 
had in my pocket two or three bunches of raisins, 
so I gave him a handful of them for his father. He 
had no sooner given his father these raisins but I 
saw him come out of the boat, and run away as if 
he had been bewitched, he ran at such a rate ; for 
he was the swiftest fellow on his feet that ever I 
saw ; I say, he ran at such a rate that he was out 
of sight, as it were, in an instant ; and though I 
called and hallooed out, too, after him, it was all 
one, away he went ; and in a quarter of an hour I 
saw him come back again, though not so fast as he 
went; and as he came nearer, I found his pace 
slacker, because he had something in his hand. 
When he came up to me, I found he had been 
quite home for an earthen jug, or pot, to bring his 
father some fresh water, and that he had two more 
cakes or loaves of bread. The bread he gave me, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 345 

but the water he carried to his father; however, as 
I was very thirsty too, I took a little sup of it. 
The water revived his father more than all the 
rum or spirits I had given him, for he was just 
fainting with thirst. 

\When his father had drunk, I called to him to 
know if there was any water left ; he said “ Yes ” ; 
and I bade him give it to the poor Spaniard, who 
was in as much want of it as his father ; and I sent 
one of the cakes that Friday brought to the Span- 
iard, too, who was indeed very weak, and was re- 
posing himself upon a green place under the shade 
of a tree ; and whose limbs were also very stiff, and 
very much swelled with the rude bandage he had 
been tied with. When I saw that, upon Friday’s 
coming to him with the water, he sat up and drank, 
and took the bread, and began to eat, I went to him 
and gave him a handful of raisins : he looked up in 
my face with all the tokens of gratitude and thank- 
fulness that could appear in any countenance ; but 
was so weak, notwithstanding he had so exerted 
himself in the fight, that he could not stand up upon 
his feet; he tried to do it two or three times, but 
was really not able, his ankles were so swelled and 
so painful to him ; so I bade him sit still, and caused 
Friday to rub his ankles, and bathe them with rum, 
as he had done his father’s. 

I observed the poor affectionate creature, every 
two minutes, or perhaps less, all the while he was 
here, turn his head about to see if his father was 
in the same place and posture as he left him sit- 


346 THE ADVENTURES OF 

ting; and at last he found he was not to be seen; at 
which he started up, and, without speaking a word, 
flew with that swiftness to him that one could scarce 
perceive his feet to touch the ground as he went ; 
but when he came, he only found he had laid him- 
self down to ease his limbs, so Friday came back to 
me presently ; and then I spoke to the Spaniard to 
let Friday help him up, if he could, and lead him 
to the boat, and then he should carry him to our 
dwelling, where I would take care of him. But Fri- 
day, a lusty strong fellow, took the Spaniard quite 
up upon his back, and carried him away to the boat, 
and set him down softly upon the side or gunnel 
of the canoe, with his feet in the inside of it; and 
then, lifting him quite in, he set him close to his 
father; and presently stepping out again, launched 
the boat off, and paddled it along the shore faster 
than I could walk, though the wind blew pretty hard 
too ; so he brought them both safe into our creek, 
and leaving them in the boat, ran away to fetch the 
other canoe. As he passed me, I spoke to him, and 
asked him whither he went. He told me, “ Go fetch 
more boat ” ; so away he went like the wind, for sure 
never man or horse ran like him; and he had the 
other canoe in the creek almost as soon as I got to 
it by land; so he wafted me over, and then went to 
help our new guests out of the boat, which he did; 
but they were neither of them able to walk, so that 
poor Friday knew not what to do. 

To remedy this, I went to work in my thought, 
and calling to Friday to bid them sit down on the 



LOOSING HIS HANDS AND FEET I LIFTED HIM UP 


























































































































































































































































































































































ROBINSON CRUSOE 


347 

bank while he came to me, I soon made a kind 
of a hand-barrow to lay them on, and Friday and I 
carried them both up together upon it, between us. 
But when we got them to the outside of our wall, 
or fortification, we were at a worse loss than before, 
for it was impossible to get them over, and I was 
resolved not to break it down. So I set to work 
again; and Friday and I, in about two hours’ time, 
made a very handsome tent, covered with old sails, 
and above that with boughs of trees, being in the 
space without our outward fence, and between that 
and the grove of young wood which I had planted; 
and here we made them two beds of such things as 
I had, viz., of good rice-straw, with blankets laid 
upon it, to lie on, and another, to cover them, on 
each bed. 

My island was now peopled, and I thought my- 
self rich in subjects; and it was a merry reflection, 
which I frequently made, how like a king I looked. 
First of all, the whole country was my own mere 
property, so that I had an undoubted right of do- 
minion. Secondly, my people were perfectly sub- 
jected; I was absolutely lord and lawgiver; they all 
owed their lives to me, and were ready to lay down 
their lives, if there had been occasion for it, for me. 
It was remarkable, too, I had but three subjects, 
and they were of three different religions ; my man 
Friday was a Protestant, his father was a Pagan and 
a cannibal, and the Spaniard was a Papist; however, 
I allowed liberty of conscience throughout my 
dominions. — But this is by the way. 


348 THE ADVENTURES OF 

As soon as I had secured my two weak rescued 
prisoners, and given them shelter, and a place to 
rest them upon, I began to think of making some 
provision for them ; and the first thing I did, I or- 
dered Friday to take a yearling goat, betwixt a kid 
and a goat, out of my particular flock, to be killed ; 
when I cut off the hinder quarter, and chopping it 
into small pieces, I set Friday to work to boiling 
and stewing, and made them a very good dish, I as- 
sure you, of flesh and broth, having put some bar- 
ley and rice also into the broth. And as I cooked 
it without-doors, for I made no fire within my inner 
wall, so I carried it all into the new tent, and hav- 
ing set a table there for them, I sat down, and ate 
my dinner also with them, and, as well as I could, 
cheered them, and encouraged them. Friday was 
my interpreter, especially to his father, and, indeed, 
to the Spaniard too; for the Spaniard spoke the 
language of the savages pretty well. 

After we had dined, or rather supped, I ordered 
Friday to take one of the canoes, and go and fetch 
our muskets and other fire-arms, which, for want of 
time, we had left upon the place of battle; and, the 
next day, I ordered him to go and bury the dead 
bodies of the savages, which lay open to the sun, 
and would presently be offensive. I also ordered 
him to bury the horrid remains of their barbarous 
feast, which I knew were pretty much, and which 
I could not think of doing myself ; nay, I could 
not bear to see them, if I went that way; all which 
he punctually performed, and effaced the very ap- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


349 

pearance of the savages being there ; so that when 
I went again, I could scarce know where it was, 
otherwise than by the corner of the wood pointing 
to the place. 

I then began to enter into a little conversation 
with my two subjects: and, first, I set Friday to 
inquire of his father what he thought of the escape 
of the savages in that canoe, and whether we might 
expect a return of them, with a power too great for 
us to resist. His first opinion was, that the savages 
in the boat could never live out the storm which 
blew that night they went off, but must of necess- 
ity be drowned, or driven south to those other 
shores, where they were as sure to be devoured as 
they were to be drowned, if they were cast away ; 
but, as to what they would do, if they came safe on 
shore, he said he knew not; but it was his opinion 
that they were so dreadfully frightened with the 
manner of their being attacked, the noise, and the 
fire, that he believed they would tell the people 
they were all killed by thunder and lightning, not 
by the hand of man ; and that the two which 
appeared, viz., Friday and I, were two heavenly 
spirits, or furies, come down to destroy them, and 
not men with weapons. This, he said, he knew; 
because he heard them all cry out so, in their lan- 
guage, one to another ; for it was impossible for 
them to conceive that a man could dart fire, and 
speak thunder, and kill at a distance, without lift- 
ing up the hand, as was done now ; and this old 
savage was in the right ; for, as I understood since, 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


35 ° 

by other hands, the savages never attempted to go 
over to the island afterwards, they were so terrified 
with the accounts given by those four men (for, it 
seems, they did escape the sea) that they believed 
whoever went to that enchanted island would be 
destroyed by fire from the gods. This, however, I 
knew not ; and therefore was under continual ap- 
prehensions for a good while, and kept always upon 
my guard, with all my army: for as there were now 
four of us, I would have ventured upon a hundred 
of them, fairly in the open field, at any time. 

(Fn a little time, however, no more canoes appear- 
ing, the fear of their coming wore off; and I began 
to take my former thoughts of a voyage to the main 
into consideration; being likewise assured, by Fri- 
day’s father, that I might depend upon good usage 
from their nation, on his account, if I would go. 
But my thoughts were a little suspended when I 
had a serious discourse with the Spaniard, and when 
I understood that there were sixteen more of his 
countrymen and Portuguese, who, having been cast 
away and made their escape to that side, lived there 
at peace, indeed, with the savages, but were very 
sore put to it for necessaries, and indeed for life. 
I asked him all the particulars of their voyage, and 
found they were a Spanish ship, bound from the 
Rio de la Plata to the Havanna, being directed to 
leave their loading there, which was chiefly hides 
and silver, to bring back what European goods 
they could meet with there ; that they had five Por- 
tuguese seamen on board, whom they took out of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


35i 


another wreck ; that five of their own men were 
drowned, when first the ship was lost, and that 
these escaped through infinite dangers and hazards, 
and arrived, almost starved, on the cannibal coast, 
where they expected to have been devoured every 
moment. He told me they had some arms with 
them, but they were perfectly useless, for that they 
had neither powder nor ball, the washing of the sea 
having spoiled all their powder but a little, which 
they used at their first landing, to provide them- 
selves some food. 

I asked what he thought would become of them 
there, and if they had formed no design of making 
any escape. He said they had many consultations 
about it; but that having neither vessel, nor tools 
to build one, nor provisions of any kind, their coun- 
cils always ended in tears and despair. I asked him 
how he thought they would receive a proposal from 
me, which might tend towards an escape ; and 
whether, if they were all here, it might not be done. 
I told him, with freedom, I feared mostly their 
treachery and ill usage of me, if I put my life in 
their hands, for that gratitude was no inherent 
virtue in the nature of man, nor did men always 
square their dealings by the obligations they had 
received, so much as they did by the advantages 
they expected. I told him it would be very hard 
that I should be the instrument of their deliver- 
ance, and that they should afterwards make me 
their prisoner in New Spain, where an Englishman 
was certain to be made a sacrifice, what necessity or 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


35 2 

what accident soever brought him thither; and that 
I had rather be delivered up to the savages, and 
be devoured alive, than fall into the merciless claws 
of the priests, and be carried into the Inquisition. 
I added, that otherwise I was persuaded, if they 
were all here, we might, with so many hands, build 
a bark large enough to carry us all away, either 
to the Brazils, southward, or to the islands, or 
Spanish coast, northward; but that if, in requital, 
they should, when I had put weapons into their 
hands, carry me by force among their own people, 
I might be ill used for my kindness to them, and 
make my case worse than it was before. 

He answered, with a great deal of candour and 
ingenuousness, that their condition was so misera- 
ble, and they were so sensible of it, that he believed 
they would abhor the thought of using any man 
unkindly that should contribute to their deliver- 
ance ; and that if I pleased, he would go to them with 
the old man, and discourse with them about it, and 
return again, and bring me their answer ; that he 
would make conditions with them, upon their sol- 
emn oath, that they should be absolutely under my 
leading, as their commander and captain ; and that 
they should swear, upon the holy sacraments and 
gospel, to be true to me, and go to such Christian 
country as that I should agree to, and no other, 
and to be directed wholly and absolutely by my 
orders, till they were landed safely in such country 
as I intended ; and that he would bring a contract 
from them, under their hands, for that purpose. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 353 

Then he told me he would first swear to me him- 
self that he would never stir from me as long as he 
lived, till I gave him orders ; and that he would take 
my side to the last drop of his blood, if there should 
happen the least breach of faith among his country- 
men. He told me they were all of them very civil, 
honest men, and they were under the greatest distress 
imaginable, having neither weapons, nor clothes, 
nor any food, but at the mercy and discretion of 
the savages; out of all hopes of ever returning to 
their own country; and that he was sure, if I would 
undertake their relief, they would live and die by me. 

Upon these assurances, I resolved to venture to 
relieve them, if possible, and to send the old savage 
and this Spaniard over to them to treat. But when 
we had got all things in readiness to go, the Spaniard 
himself started an objection, which had so much 
prudence in it, on one hand, and so much sincerity, 
on the other hand, that I could not but be very well 
satisfied in it ; and, by his advice, put off the de- 
liverance of his comrades for at least half a year. 
The case was thus : He had been with us now about 
a month, during which time I had let him see in what 
manner I had provided, with the assistance of Pro- 
vidence, for my support, and he saw evidently what 
stock of corn and rice I had laid up ; which, though 
it was more than sufficient for myself, yet it was not 
sufficient, without good husbandry, for my family, 
now it was increased to four ; but much less would 
it be sufficient if his countrymen, who were, as he 
said, sixteen, still alive, should come over ; and least 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


354 

of all would it be sufficient to victual our vessel, if 
we should build one, for a voyage to any of the 
Christian colonies of America ; so he told me he 
thought it would be more advisable to let him and 
the other two dig and cultivate some more land, 
as much as I could spare seed to sow, and that we 
should wait another harvest, that we might have a 
supply of corn for his countrymen, when they should 
come ; for want might be a temptation to them to 
disagree, or not to think themselves delivered, other- 
wise than out of one difficulty into another. “You 
know,” says he, “the children of Israel, though 
they rejoiced at first for their being delivered out 
of Egypt, yet they rebelled even against God him- 
self, that delivered them, when they came to want 
bread in the Wilderness.” His caution was so sea- 
sonable, and his advice so good, that I could not but 
be very well pleased with his proposal, as well as 
I was satisfied with his fidelity : so we fell to dig- 
ging, all four of us, as well as the wooden tools we 
were furnished with permitted ; and in about a 
month’s time, by the end of which it was seed-time, 
we had got as much land cured and trimmed up as 
we sowed two-and-twenty bushels of barley on, and 
sixteen jars of rice ; which was, in short, all the seed 
we had to spare : nor, indeed, did we leave ourselves 
barely sufficient for our own food for the six months 
that we had to expect our crop ; that is to say, 
reckoning from the time we set our seed aside for 
sowing; for it is not to be supposed it is six months 
in the ground in that country. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


355 

Having now society enough, and our number 
being sufficient to put us out of fear of the sav- 
ages, if they had come, unless their number had 
been very great, we went freely all over the island, 
whenever we found occasion : and as here we had 
our escape or deliverance upon our thoughts, it was 
impossible, at least for me, to have the means of it 
out of mine. For this purpose, I marked out sev- 
eral trees which I thought fit for our work, and I 
set Friday and his father to cutting them down ; 
and then I caused the Spaniard, to whom I imparted 
my thought on that affair, to oversee and direct 
their work. I showed them with what indefatigable 
pains I had hewed a large tree into single planks, 
and I caused them to do the like, till they had made 
about a dozen large planks of good oak, near two 
feet broad, thirty-five feet long, and from two inches 
to four inches thick ; what prodigious labour it took 
up, any one may imagine. 

At the same time, I contrived to increase my 
little flock of tame goats as much as I could ; and, 
for this purpose, I made Friday and the Spaniard 
go out one day, and myself with Friday the next 
day (for we took our turns), and by this means we 
got about twenty young kids to breed up with the 
rest ; for whenever we shot the dam, we saved the 
kids, and added them to our flock. But, above all, 
the season for curing the grapes coming on, I caused 
such a prodigious quantity to be hung up in the sun 
that I believe, had we been at Alicant, where the 
raisins of the sun are cured, we could have filled 


356 THE ADVENTURES OF 

sixty or eighty barrels ; and these, with our bread, 
was a great part of our food, and was very good 
living, too, I assure you, for it is exceedingly nour- 
ishing. 

It was now harvest, and our crop in good order: 
it was not the most plentiful increase I had seen in 
the island, but, however, it was enough to answer 
our end ; for from twenty-two bushels of barley we 
brought in and threshed out above two hundred 
and twenty bushels, and the like in proportion of 
the rice : which was store enough for our food to 
the next harvest, though all the sixteen Spaniards 
had been on shore with me ; or if we had been ready 
for a voyage, it would very plentifully have vict- 
ualled our ship to have carried us to any part of the 
world, that is to say, any part of America. When 
we had thus housed and secured our magazine of 
corn, we fell to work to make more wicker-ware, 
viz., great baskets in which we kept it ; and the 
Spaniard was very handy and dexterous at this part, 
and often blamed me that I did not make some 
things for defence of this kind of work; but I saw 
no need of it. 

And now, having a full supply of food for all the 
guests I expected, I gave the Spaniard leave to go 
over to the main, to see what he could do with 
those he had left behind him there. I gave him a 
strict charge not to bring any man with him who 
would not first swear, in the presence of himself 
and the old savage, that he would no way injure, 
fight with, or attack the person he should find in 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


357 

the island, who was so kind as to send for them in 
order to their deliverance ; but that they would 
stand by him, and defend him against all such at- 
tempts, and wherever they went would be entirely 
under and subjected to his command; and that this 
should be put in writing and signed with their hands. 
How they were to have done this, when I knew 
they had neither pen nor ink, was a question which 
we never asked. Under these instructions, the 
Spaniard and the old savage, the father of Friday, 
went away in one of the canoes which they might 
be said to come in, or rather were brought in, when 
they came as prisoners to be devoured by the sav- 
ages. I gave each of them a musket, with a firelock 
on it, and about eight charges of powder and ball, 
charging them to be very good husbands of both, 
and not to use either of them but upon urgent oc- 
casions. 

This was a cheerful work, being the first measures 
used by me, in view of my deliverance, for now 
twenty-seven years and some days. I gave them 
provisions of bread, and of dried grapes, sufficient 
for themselves for many days, and sufficient for all 
the Spaniards for about eight days' time ; and wish- 
ing them a good voyage, I saw them go ; agreeing 
with them about a signal they should hang out at 
their return, by which I should know them again, 
when they came back, at a distance, before they 
came on shore. They went away with a fair gale, 
on the day that the moon was at full, by my ac- 
count in the month of October ; but as for an exact 


358 THE ADVENTURES OF 

reckoning of days, after I had once lost it, I could 
never recover it again ; nor had I kept even the 
number of years so punctually as to be sure I was 
right; though, as it proved, when I afterwards 
examined my account, I found I had kept a true 
reckoning of years. 

It was no less than eight days I had waited for 
them, when a strange and unforeseen accident 
intervened, of which the like has not perhaps been 
heard of in history. I was fast asleep in my hutch 
one morning, when my man Friday came running 
in to me, and called aloud, “ Master, master, they 
are come, they are come! ” I jumped up, and, re- 
gardless of danger, I went out as soon as I could 
get my clothes on, through my little grove, which, 
by the way, was by this time grown to be a very 
thick wood ; I say, regardless of danger, I went 
without my arms, which it was not my custom to 
do ; but I was surprised, when, turning my eyes 
to the sea, I presently saw a boat about a league 
and a half distance, standing in for the shore, with 
a shoulder-of-mutton sail, as they call it, and the 
wind blowing pretty fair to bring them in; also I ob- 
served presently that they did not come from that 
side which the shore lay on, but from the southern- 
most end of the island. Upon this, I called Friday 
in, and bade him lie close, for these were not the 
people we looked for, and that we might not know 
yet whether they were friends or enemies. In the 
next place, I went in to fetch my perspective glass, 
to see what I could make of them ; and having 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 359 

taken the ladder out, I climbed up to the top of 
the hill, as I used to do when I was apprehensive 
of anything, and to take my view the plainer with- 
out being discovered. I had scarce set my foot 
upon the hill, when my eye plainly discovered a 
ship lying at an anchor, at about two leagues and 
a half distance from me, SSE., but not above a 
league and a half from the shore. By my observa- 
tion, it appeared plainly to be an English ship, and 
the boat appeared to be an English long-boat. 

I cannot express the confusion I was in, though 
the joy of seeing a ship, and one that I had reason 
to believe was manned by my own countrymen, 
and, consequently, friends, was such as I cannot de- 
scribe; but yet I had some secret doubts hang about 
me — I cannot tell from whence they came, bid- 
ding me to keep upon my guard. In the first place, 
it occurred to me to consider what business an 
English ship could have in that part of the world, 
since it was not the way to or from any part of the 
world where the English had any traffic ; and I 
knew there had been no storms to drive them in 
there, as in distress ; and that if they were really 
English, it was most probable that they were here 
upon no good design ; and that I had better con- 
tinue as I was than fall into the hands of thieves 
and murderers. 

Let no man despise the secret hints and notices 
of danger, which sometimes are given him when 
he may think there is no possibility of its being 
real. That such hints and notices are given us, I 


360 THE ADVENTURES OF 

believe few that have made any observations of 
things can deny ; that they are certain discoveries 
of an invisible world, and a converse of spirits, we 
cannot doubt ; and if the tendency of them seems 
to be to warn us of danger, why should we not 
suppose they are from some friendly agent (whether 
supreme, or inferior and subordinate, is not the 
question), and that they are given for our good ? 

The present question abundantly confirms me 
in the justice of this reasoning ; for had I not been 
made cautious by this secret admonition, come it 
from whence it will, I had been undone inevitably, 
and in a far worse condition than before, as you 
will see presently. I had not kept myself long in 
this posture but I saw the boat draw near the 
shore, as if they looked for a creek to thrust in at, 
for the convenience of landing ; however, as they 
did not come quite far enough, they did not see 
the little inlet where I formerly landed my rafts, 
but run their boat on shore upon the beach, at 
about half a mile from me, which was very happy 
for me ; for otherwise they would have landed just 
at my door, as I may say, and would soon have 
beaten me out of my castle, and perhaps have plun- 
dered me of all I had. When they were on shore, 
I was fully satisfied they were Englishmen, at least 
most of them ; one or two I thought were Dutch, 
but it did not prove so ; there were in all eleven 
men, whereof three of them I found were un- 
armed, and, as I thought, bound ; and when the 
first four or five of them were jumped on shore, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 361 

they took those three out of the boat as prisoners; 
one of the three I could perceive using the most 
passionate gestures of entreaty, affliction, and de- 
spair, even to a kind of extravagance ; the other 
two, I could perceive, lifted up their hands some- 
times, and appeared concerned, indeed, but not to 
such a degree as the first. I was perfectly con- 
founded at the sight, and knew not what the mean- 
ing of it should be. Friday called out to me in 
English, as well as he could, “ O master ! you see 
English mans eat prisoner as well as savage mans.” 
“ Why, Friday,” says I, “ do you think they are 
going to eat them ? ” “ Yes,” says Friday, “ they 
will eat them.” “ No, no,” says I, “ Friday; I am 
afraid they will murder them, indeed, but you may 
be sure they will not eat them.” 

All this while I had no thought of what the mat- 
ter really was, but stood trembling with the horror 
of the sight, expecting every moment when the 
three prisoners should be killed ; nay, once I saw 
one of the villains lift up his arm with a great cut- 
lass, as the seamen call it, or sword, to strike one 
of the poor men ; and I expected to see him fall 
every moment; at which all the blood in my body 
seemed to run chill in my veins. I wished heartily 
now for my Spaniard, and the savage that was gone 
with him, or that I had any way to have come un- 
discovered within shot of them, that I might have 
rescued the three men, for I saw no fire-arms they 
had among them: but it fell out to my mind an- 
other way. After I had observed the outrageous 


362 ROBINSON CRUSOE 

usage of the three men by the insolent seamen, I 
observed the fellows run scattering about the island, 
as if they wanted to see the country. I observed 
that the three other men had liberty to go also 
where they pleased; but they sat down all three 
upon the ground, very pensive, and looked like 
men in despair. This put me in mind of the first 
time when I came on shore, and began to look 
about me: how I gave myself over for lost; how 
wildly I looked around me ; what dreadful appre- 
hensions I had ; and how I lodged in the tree all 
night, for fear of being devoured by wild beasts. 
As I knew nothing that night of the supply I was 
to receive by the providential driving of the ship 
nearer the land by the storms and tide, by which I 
have since been so long nourished and supported, 
so these three poor desolate men knew nothing 
how certain of deliverance and supply they were, 
how near it was to them, and how effectually and 
really they were in a condition of safety, at the same 
time that they thought themselves lost, and their 
case desperate. So little do we see before us in the 
world, and so much reason have we to depend 
cheerfully upon the great Maker of the world, 
that he does not leave his creatures so absolutely 
destitute but that, in the worst circumstances, they 
have always something to be thankful for, and 
sometimes are nearer their deliverance than they 
imagine; nay, are even brought to their deliver- 
ance by the means by which they seem to be brought 
to their destruction. 





I t was just at the top of high water when these 
people came on shore ; and partly while they 
rambled about to see what kind of a place they 
were in, they had carelessly stayed till the tide was 
spent, and the water was ebbed considerably away, 
leaving their boat aground. They had left two men 
in the boat, who, as I found afterwards, having drunk 
a little too much brandy, fell asleep; however, one 
of them waking a little sooner than the other, and 
finding the boat too fast aground for him to stir 
it, hallooed out for the rest, who were straggling 
about ; upon which they all soon came to the boat : 
but it was past all their strength to launch her, the 
boat being very heavy, and the shore on that side 
being a soft oozy sand, almost like a quicksand. In 
this condition, like true seamen, who are perhaps 
the least of all mankind given to forethought, they 
gave it over, and away they strolled about the 
country again ; and I heard one of them say aloud 
to another, calling them off from the boat, “Why, 
let her alone. Jack, can’t you ? she ’ll float next 


364 the adventures of 

tide” : by which I was fully confirmed in the main 
inquiry of what countrymen they were. All this 
while I kept myself very close, not once daring to 
stir out of my castle, any farther than to my place 
of observation, near the top of the hill ; and very 
glad I was to think how well it was fortified. I 
knew it was no less than ten hours before the boat 
could float again, and by that time it would be 
dark, and I might be at more liberty to see their 
motions, and to hear their discourse, if they had 
any. In the mean time, I fitted myself up for a bat- 
tle, as before, though with more caution, knowing 
I had to do with another kind of enemy than I had 
at first. I ordered Friday also, whom I had made 
an excellent marksman with his gun, to load him- 
self with arms. I took myself two fowling-pieces, 
and I gave him three muskets. My figure, indeed, 
was very fierce ; I had my formidable goats’-skin 
coat on, with the great cap I have mentioned, a 
naked sword by my side, two pistols in my belt, 
and a gun upon each shoulder. 

It was my design, as I said above, not to have 
made any attempt till it was dark : but about two 
o’clock, being the heat of the day, I found that, in 
short, they were all gone straggling into the woods, 
and as I thought, laid down to sleep. The three 
poor distressed men, too anxious for their condi- 
tion to get any sleep, were, however, sat down under 
the shelter of a great tree, at about a quarter of a 
mile from me, and, as I thought, out of sight of any 
of the rest. Upon this I resolved to discover myself 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


365 

to them, and learn something of their condition; 
immediately I marched in the figure as above, my 
man Friday at a good distance behind me, as for- 
midable for his arms as I, but not making quite so 
staring a spectre-like figure as I did.' I came as near 
them undiscovered as I could, and then, before any 
of them saw me, I called aloud to them in Spanish, 
“ What are ye, gentlemen ? ” They started up at the 
noise; but were ten times more confounded when 
they saw me, and the uncouth figure that I made. 
They made no answer at all, but I thought I per- 
ceived them just going to fly from me, when I spoke 
to them in English : “ Gentlemen,” said I, “ do not 
be surprised at me; perhaps you may have a friend 
near, when you did not expect it.” “He must be 
sent directly from Heaven then,” said one of them 
very gravely to me, and pulling off his hat at the 
same time to me; “for our condition is past the 
help of man.” “All help is from Heaven, sir,” 
said I. “ But can you put a stranger in the way how 
to help you? for you seem to be in some great dis- 
tress. I saw you when you landed; and when you 
seemed to make supplication to the brutes that came 
with you, I saw one of them lift up his sword to 
kill you.” 

The poor man, with tears running down his face, 
and trembling, looking like one astonished, re- 
turned, “ Am I talking to God or man ? Is it a real 
man or an angel?” “Be in no fear about that, 
sir,” said I; “if God had sent an angel to relieve 
you, he would have come better clothed, and armed 


366 THE ADVENTURES OF 

after another manner than you see me: pray lay 
aside your fears; I am a man, an Englishman, and 
disposed to assist you: you see I have one servant 
only ; we have arms and ammunition ; tell us freely, 
can we serve you? What is your case?” “Our 
case,” said he, “sir, is too long to tell you, while our 
murderers are so near us; but, in short, sir, I was 
commander of that ship, my men have mutinied 
against me ; they have been hardly prevailed on not 
to murder me; and at last have set me on shore in 
this desolate place, with these two men with me, one 
my mate, the other a passenger, where we expected 
to perish, believing the place to be uninhabited, and 
know not yet what to think of it.” “Where are 
these brutes, your enemies ? ” said I. “ Do you know 
where they are gone? ” “ There they lie, sir,” said 
he, pointing to a thicket of trees; “my heart trem- 
bles for fear they have seen us, and heard you speak ; 
if they have, they will certainly murder us all.” 
“ Have they any fire-arms?” said I. He answered 
they had only two pieces, one of which they left in 
the boat. “Well, then,” said I, “leave the rest to 
me; I see they are all asleep, it is an easy thing to 
kill them all : but shall we rather take them pris- 
oners?” He told me there were two desperate vil- 
lains among them, that it was scarce safe to show 
any mercy to; but if they were secured, he believed 
all the rest would return to their duty. I asked him 
which they were? He told me he could not at that 
distance distinguish them, but he would obey my 
orders in anything I would direct. “Well,” says I, 



WHAT ARE YE, GENTLEMEN? 





ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3^7 

“let us retreat out of their view or hearing, lest they 
awake, and we will resolve further.” So they will- 
ingly went back with me, till the woods covered us 
from them. 

“Look you, sir,” said I, “if I venture upon 
your deliverance, are you willing to make two con- 
ditions with me?” He anticipated my proposals, 
by telling me that both he and the ship, if recov- 
ered, should be wholly directed and commanded 
by me in everything; and, if the ship was not 
recovered, he would live and die with me in what 
part of the world soever I would send him ; and 
the two other men said the same. “Well,” says I, 
“ my conditions are but two : first, that while you 
stay in this island with me, you will not pretend 
to any authority here ; and if I put arms in your 
hands, you will, upon all occasions, give them up 
to me, and do no prejudice to me or mine upon 
this island, and, in the mean time, be governed by 
my orders : secondly, that if the ship is, or may be 
recovered, you will carry me and my man to Eng- 
land, passage free.” 

He gave me all the assurances that the invention 
or faith of man could devise that he would com- 
ply with these most reasonable demands ; and, be- 
sides, would owe his life to me, and acknowledge it 
upon all occasions, as long as he lived. “Well, 
then,” said I, “ here are three muskets for you, with 
powder and ball : tell me next what you think is 
proper to be done.” He showed me all the testi- 
monies of his gratitude that he was able, but offered 


368 THE ADVENTURES OF 

to be wholly guided by me. I told him I thought it 
was hard venturing anything; but the best method 
I could think of was to fire upon them at once, as 
they lay, and if any was not killed at the first vol- 
ley, and offered to submit, we might save them, 
and so put it wholly upon God’s providence to 
direct the shot. He said very modestly that he was 
loath to kill them, if he could help it : but that 
those two were incorrigible villains, and had been 
the authors of all the mutiny in the ship, and if 
they escaped, we should be undone still ; for they 
would go on board and bring the whole ship’s com- 
pany, and destroy us all. “ Well then,” says I, “ ne- 
cessity legitimates my advice, for it is the only way 
to save our lives.” However, seeing him still cau- 
tious of shedding blood, I told him they should go 
themselves and manage as they found convenient. 

In the middle of this discourse we heard some of 
them awake, and soon after we saw two of them 
on their feet. I asked him if either of them were 
the heads of the mutiny ? He said, “ No.” “Well 
then,” said I, “ y ou may let them escape ; and Provi- 
dence seems to have awakened them on purpose to 
save themselves. Now,” says I, “if the rest escape 
you, it is your fault.” Animated with this, he took 
the musket I had given him in his hand, and a pis- 
tol in his belt, and his two comrades with him, with 
each a piece in his hand ; the two men who were 
with him going first, made some noise, at which one 
of the seamen who was awake turned about, and 
seeing them coming, cried out to the rest ; but it 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 369 

was too late then, for the moment he cried out 
they fired ; I mean the two men, the captain wisely 
reserving his own piece. They had so well aimed 
their shot at the men they knew, that one of them 
was killed on the spot, and the other very much 
wounded ; but not being dead, he started up on his 
feet and called eagerly for help to the others ; but 
the captain, stepping to him, told him it was too 
late to cry for help, he should call upon God to for- 
give his villainy ; and with that word knocked him 
down with the stock of his musket, so that he never 
spoke more ; there were three more in the company, 
and one of them was also slightly wounded. By this 
time I was come ; and when they saw their danger, 
and that it was in vain to resist, they begged for 
mercy. The captain told them he would spare their 
lives, if they would give him any assurance of their 
abhorrence of the treachery they had been guilty of, 
and would swear to be faithful to him in recover- 
ing the ship, and afterwards in carrying her back to 
Jamaica, from whence they came. They gave him 
all the protestations of their sincerity that could be 
desired, and he was willing to believe them, and 
spare their lives, which I was not against, only that 
I obliged him to keep them bound hand and foot 
while they were on the island. 

While this was doing, I sent Friday with the cap- 
tain’s mate to the boat, with orders to secure her, 
and bring away the oars and sails, which they did: 
and by and by the three straggling men, that were 
(happily for them) parted from the rest, came back 


370 THE ADVENTURES OF 

upon hearing the guns fired, and seeing the captain, 
who before was their prisoner, now their conqueror, 
they submitted to be bound also ; and so our vic- 
tory was complete. 

It now remained that the captain and I should 
inquire into one another’s circumstances : I began 
first, and told him my whole history, which he heard 
with an attention even to amazement; and particu- 
larly at the wonderful manner of my being furnished 
with provisions and ammunition; and, indeed, as 
my story is a whole collection of wonders, it affected 
him deeply. But when he reflected from thence upon 
himself, and how I seemed to have been preserved 
there on purpose to save his life, the tears ran down 
his face, and he could not speak a word more. After 
this communication was at an end, I carried him and 
his two men into my apartment, leading them in 
just where I came out, viz., at the top of the house, 
where I refreshed them with such provisions as I 
had, and showed them all the contrivances I had 
made, during my long, long inhabiting that place. 

All I showed them, all I said to them, was per- 
fectly amazing; but, above all, the captain admired 
my fortification, and how perfectly I had concealed 
my retreat with a grove of trees, which, having been 
now planted near twenty years, and the trees grow- 
ing much faster than in England, was become a little 
wood, and so thick that it was impassable in any 
part of it but at that one side where I had reserved 
my little winding passage into it. I told him this 
was my castle and my residence, but that I had a 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 371 

seat in the country, as most princes have, whither I 
could retreat upon occasion, and I would show him 
that too another time; but at present our business 
was to consider how to recover the ship. He agreed 
with me as to that; but told me he was perfectly at 
a loss what measures to take, for that there were still 
six-and- twenty hands on board, who, having entered 
into a cursed conspiracy, by which they had all for- 
feited their lives to the law, would be hardened in it 
now by desperation, and would carry it on, knowing 
that, if they were subdued, they would be brought 
to the gallows as soon as they came to England, or 
to any of the English colonies; and that, therefore, 
there would be no attacking them with so small a 
number as we were. 

I mused for some time upon what he had said, 
and found it was a very rational conclusion, and that, 
therefore, something was to be resolved on speedily, 
as well to draw the men on board into some snare 
for their surprise, as to prevent their landing upon 
us, and destroying us. Upon this, it presently oc- 
curred to me that in a little while the ship’s crew, 
wondering what was become of their comrades, and 
of the boat, would certainly come on shore in their 
other boat, to look for them ; and that then, perhaps, 
they might come armed, and be too strong for us: 
this he allowed to be rational. Upon this, I told him 
the first thing we had to do was to stave the boat, 
which lay upon the beach, so that they might not 
carry her off; and taking everything out of her, 
leave her so far useless as not to be fit to swim : ac- 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


37 * 

cordingly we went on board, took the arms which 
were left on board out of her, and whatever else we 
found there, which was a bottle of brandy, and an- 
other of rum, a few biscuit cakes, a horn of pow- 
der, and a great lump of sugar in a piece of canvas 
(the sugar was five or six pounds) ; all which was 
very welcome to me, especially the brandy and sugar, 
of which I had none left for many years. 

When we had carried all these things on shore 
(the oars, mast, sail, and rudder of the boat were car- 
ried away before, as above), we knocked a great hole 
in her bottom, that if they had come strong enough 
to master us, yet they could not carry off the boat. 
Indeed, it was not much in my thoughts that we 
could be able to recover the ship ; but my view was, 
that if they went away without the boat, I did not 
much question to make her fit again to carry us to 
the Leeward Islands, and call upon our friends the 
Spaniards in my way ; for I had them still in my 
thoughts. 

While we were thus preparing our designs, and 
had first, by main strength, heaved the boat upon 
the beach so high that the tide would not float her 
off at high-water mark, and besides had broke a hole 
in her bottom too big to be quickly stopped, and 
were set down musing what we should do, we heard 
the ship fire a gun, and saw her make a waft with her 
ensign as a signal for the boat to come on board : but 
no boat stirred ; and they fired several times, making 
other signals for the boat. At last, when all their 
signals and firing proved fruitless, and they found 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


373 

the boat did not stir, we saw them, by the help of my 
glasses, hoist another boat out, and row towards the 
shore ; and we found, as they approached, that there 
were no less than ten men in her, and that they had 
fire-arms with them. 

As the ship lay almost two leagues from the shore, 
we had a full view of them as they came, and a plain 
sight even of their faces ; because the tide having set 
them a little to the east of the other boat, they rowed 
up under shore, to come to the same place where the 
other had landed, and where the boat lay ; by this 
means, I say, we had a full view of them, and the cap- 
tain knew the persons and characters of all the men 
in the boat, of whom, he said, there were three very 
honest fellows, who, he was sure, were led into this 
conspiracy by the rest,beingoverpowered and fright- 
ened; but that, as for the boatswain, who, it seems, 
was the chief officer among them, and all the rest, 
they were as outrageous as any of the ship’s crew, 
and were no doubt made desperate in their new en- 
terprise; and terribly apprehensive he was that they 
would be too powerful for us. I smiled at him, and 
told him that men in our circumstances were past 
the operation of fear; that seeing almost every con- 
dition that could be was better than that which we 
were supposed to be in, we ought to expect that the 
consequence, whether death or life, would be sure 
to be a deliverance. I asked him what he thought of 
the circumstances of my life, and whether a deliver- 
ance were not worth venturing for? “ And where, 
sir,” said I, “is your belief of my being preserved 


374 THE ADVENTURES OF 

here on purpose to save your life, which elevated 
you a little while ago; for my part,” said I, “ there 
seems to me but one thing amiss in all the prospect 
of it.” “ What is that?” says he. “ Why,” says I, “it 
is, that as you say there are three or four honest 
fellows among them, which should be spared; 
had they been all of the wicked part of the crew, 
I should have thought God’s providence had 
singled them out to deliver them into your hands ; 
for, depend upon it, every man that comes ashore 
are our own, and shall die or live as they behave to 
us.” As I spoke this with a raised voice and cheer- 
ful countenance, I found it greatly encouraged 
him ; so we set vigorously to our business. 

We had, upon the first appearance of the boat’s 
coming from the ship, considered of separating our 
prisoners; and we had, indeed, secured them ef- 
fectually. Two of them, of whom the captain was 
less assured than ordinary, I sent with Friday, and 
one of the three delivered men, to my cave, where 
they were remote enough, and out of danger of 
being heard or discovered, or of finding their way 
out of the woods if they could have delivered them- 
selves : here they left them bound, but gave them 
provisions ; and promised them, if they continued 
there quietly, to give them their liberty in a day 
or two ; but that, if they attempted their escape, 
they should be put to death without mercy. They 
promised faithfully to bear their confinement with 
patience, and were very thankful that they had such 
good usage as to have provisions and light left 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 375 

them; for Friday gave them candles (such as we 
made ourselves) for their comfort; and they did 
not know but that he stood sentinel over them at 
the entrance. 

The other prisoners had better usage : two of 
them were kept pinioned, indeed, because the 
captain was not free to trust them; but the other 
two were taken into my service, upon the captain’s 
recommendation, and upon their solemnly engag- 
ing to live and die with us ; so with them and the 
three honest men we were seven men well armed; 
and I made no doubt we should be able to deal 
well enough with the ten that were coming, con- 
sidering that the captain had said that there were 
three or four honest men among them also. As 
soon as they got to the place where their other boat 
lay, they ran their boat into the beach, and came 
on shore, hauling the boat up after them, which I 
was glad to see ; for I was afraid they would rather 
have left the boat at an anchor, some distance from 
the shore, with some hands in her to guard her, 
and so we should not be able to seize the boat. 
Being on shore, the first thing they did, they ran 
all to their other boat ; and it was easy to see they 
were under a great surprise to find her stripped, as 
above, of all that was in her, and a great hole in 
her bottom. After they had mused a while upon 
this, they set up two or three great shouts, halloo- 
ing with all their might, to try if they could make 
their companions hear; but all was to no purpose; 
then they came all close in a ring, and fired a vol- 


376 THE ADVENTURES OF 

ley of their small arms, which, indeed, we heard, 
and the echoes made the woods ring; but it was 
all one: those in the cave we were sure could not 
hear; and those in our keeping, though they heard 
it well enough, yet durst give no answer to them. 
They were so astonished at the surprise of this, 
that, as they told us afterwards, they resolved to 
go all on board again to their ship, and let them 
know that the men were all murdered, and the 
long-boat staved ; accordingly, they immediately 
launched their boat again, and got all of them on 
board. 

The captain was terribly amazed and even con- 
founded at this, believing they would go on board 
the ship again, and set sail, giving their comrades 
over for lost, and so he should still lose the ship, 
which he was in hopes we should have recovered ; 
but he was quickly as much frightened the other 
way. 

They had not been long put off with the boat 
but we perceived them all coming on shore again ; 
but with this new measure in their conduct, which 
it seems they consulted together upon, viz., to leave 
three men in the boat and the rest to go on shore, 
and go up into the country to look for their fel- 
lows. This was a great disappointment to us, for 
now we were at a loss what to do ; as our seizing 
those seven men on shore would be no advantage 
to us, if we let the boat escape ; because they would 
then row away to the ship, and then the rest of 
them would be sure to weigh and set sail, and so 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 377 

our recovering the ship would be lost. However, 
we had no remedy but to wait and see what the 
issue of things might present. The seven men came 
on shore, and the three who remained in the boat 
put her off to a good distance from the shore, and 
came to an anchor to wait for them: so that it was 
impossible for us to come at them in the boat. 
Those that came on shore kept close together, 
marching towards the top of the little hill under 
which my habitation lay ; and we could see them 
plainly, though they could not perceive us. We 
could have been very glad they would have come 
nearer to us, so that we might have fired at them, 
or that they would have gone farther off, that we 
might have come abroad. But when they were come 
to the brow of the hill, where they could see a great 
way into the valleys and woods, which lay towards 
the north-east part, and where the island lay low- 
est, they shouted and hallooed till they were weary ; 
and not caring, it seems, to venture far from the 
shore, nor far from one another, they sat down 
together under a tree, to consider it. Had they 
thought fit to have gone to sleep there as the other 
part of them had done, they had done the job for 
us; but they were too full of apprehensions of dan- 
ger to venture to go to sleep, though they could not 
tell what the danger was they had to fear neither. 

The captain made a very just proposal to me 
upon this consultation of theirs, viz., that perhaps 
they would all fire a volley again, to endeavour to 
make their fellows hear, and that we should all sally 


378 THE ADVENTURES OF 

upon them, just at the juncture when their pieces 
were all discharged, and they would certainly yield, 
and we should have them without bloodshed. I 
liked this proposal, provided it was done while we 
were near enough to come up to them before they 
could load their pieces again. But this even did not 
happen; and we lay still a long time, very irre- 
solute what course to take. At length I told them 
there would be nothing done, in my opinion, till 
night; and then, if they did not return to the boat, 
perhaps we might find a way to get between them 
and the shore, and so might use some stratagem 
with them in the boat to get them on shore. We 
waited a great while, though very impatient for 
their removing; and were very uneasy, when, after 
long consultations, we saw them all start up, and 
march down towards the sea: it seems they had 
such dreadful apprehensions upon them of the 
danger of the place that they resolved to go on 
board the ship again, give their companions over 
for lost, and so go on with their intended voyage 
with the ship. 

As soon as I perceived them to go towards the 
shore, I imagined it to be, as it really was, that they 
had given over their search, and were for going back 
again ; and the captain, as soon as I told him my 
thoughts, was ready to sink at the apprehensions 
of it: but I presently thought of a stratagem to fetch 
them back again, and which answered my end to a 
tittle. I ordered Friday and the captain’s mate to 
go over the little creek westward, towards the place 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


379 


where the savages came on shore when Friday was 
rescued, and as soon as they came to a little rising 
ground, at about half a mile distance, I bade them 
halloo out, as loud as they could, and wait till they 
found the seamen heard them ; that as soon as ever 
they heard the seamen answer them, they should 
return it again ; and then keeping out of sight, take 
a round, always answering when the others hallooed, 
to draw them as far into the island, and among the 
woods, as possible, and then wheel about again to 
me, by such ways as I directed them. 

They were just going into the boat when Friday 
and the mate hallooed : and they presently heard 
them, and answering, run along the shore westward, 
towards the voice they heard, when they were pre- 
sently stopped by the creek, where the water being 
up, they could not get over, and called for the boat 
to come up and set them over ; as, indeed, I ex- 
pected. When they had set themselves over, I ob- 
served that the boat being gone a good way into the 
creek, and, as it were, in a harbour within the land, 
they took one of the three men out of her, to go 
along with them, and left only two in the boat, hav- 
ing fastened her to the stump of a little tree on the 
shore. This was what I wished for; and immedi- 
ately leaving Friday and the captain’s mate to their 
business, I took the rest with me, and crossing the 
creek out of their sight, we surprised the two men 
before they were aware ; one of them lying on the 
shore, and the other being in the boat. The fellow 
on shore was between sleeping and waking, and 


380 THE ADVENTURES OF 

going to start up; the captain, who was foremost, 
ran in upon him, and knocked him down ; and then 
called out to him in the boat to yield, or he was 
a dead man. There needed very few arguments to 
persuade a single man to yield, when he saw five 
men upon him, and his comrade knocked down; 
besides, this was, it seems, one of the three who were 
not so hearty in the mutiny as the rest of the crew, 
and therefore was easily persuaded not only to yield, 
but afterwards to join very sincerely with us. In the 
mean time, Friday and the captain's mate so well 
managed their business with the rest that they drew 
them, by hallooing and answering, from one hill to 
another, and from one wood to another, till they 
not only heartily tired them, but left them where 
they were very sure they could not reach back to 
the boat before it was dark ; and, indeed, they were 
heartily tired themselves also, by the time they came 
back to us. 

We had nothing now to do but to watch for them 
in the dark, and to fall upon them, so as to make 
sure work with them. It was several hours after 
Friday came back to me before they came back to 
their boat ; and we could hear the foremost of them, 
long before they came quite up, calling to those 
behind to come along; and could also hear them 
answer, and complain how lame and tired they were, 
and not able to come any faster, which was very 
welcome news to us. At length they came up to the 
boat: but it is impossible to express their confusion 
when they found the boat fast aground in the creek, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 381 

the tide ebbed out, and their two men gone. We 
could hear them call to one another in a most 
lamentable manner, telling one another they were 
got into an enchanted island : that either there were 
inhabitants in it, and they should all be murdered, 
or else there were devils and spirits in it, and they 
should be all carried away and devoured. They 
hallooed again, and called their two comrades by 
their names a great many times; but no answer. 
After some time, we could see them, by the little 
light there was, run about, wringing their hands like 
men in despair ; and that sometimes they would go 
and sit down in the boat, to rest themselves ; then 
come ashore again, and walk about again, and so the 
same thing over again. My men would fain have 
had me give them leave to fall upon them at once 
in the dark; but I was willing to take them at some 
advantage, so to spare them, and kill as few of them 
as I could ; and especially I was unwilling to hazard 
the killing any of our men, knowing the others were 
very well armed. I resolved to wait, to see if they 
did not separate ; and, therefore, to make sure of 
them, I drew my ambuscade nearer, and ordered 
Friday and the captain to creep upon their hands 
and feet, as close to the ground as they could, that 
they might not be discovered, and get as near them 
as they could possibly, before they offered to fire. 

They had not been long in that posture, when 
the boatswain, who was the principal ringleader of 
the mutiny, and had now shown himself the most 
dejected and dispirited of all the rest, came walking 


382 THE ADVENTURES OF 

towardsthem, with two moreof the crew: the captain 
was so eager at having this principal rogue so much 
in his power that he could hardly have patience to 
let him come so near as to be sure of him, for they 
only heard his tongue before: but when they came 
nearer, the captain and Friday, starting up on their 
feet, let fly at them. The boatswain was killed upon 
the spot; the next man was shot in the body, and 
fell just by him, though he did not die till an hour 
or two after; and the third ran for it. At the noise 
of the fire, I immediately advanced with my whole 
army, which was now eight men, viz., myself, gen- 
eralissimo; Friday, my lieutenant-general; the cap- 
tain and his two men, and the three prisoners of 
war, whom we had trusted with arms. We came 
upon them, indeed, in the dark, so that they could 
not see our number; and I made the man they had 
left in the boat, who was now one of us, to call them 
by name, to try if I could bring them to a parley, 
and so might perhaps reduce them to terms; which 
fell out just as we desired : for, indeed, it was easy 
to think, as their condition then was, they would be 
willing to capitulate. So he calls out, as loud as he 
could, to one of them, “Tom Smith ! Tom Smith ! ” 
Tom Smith answered immediately, “Is that Rob- 
inson?” For it seems he knew the voice. The other 
answered, “Aye, aye; for God’s sake, Tom Smith, 
throw down your arms and yield, or you are all 
dead men this moment.” “Who must we yield to? 
Where are they?” says Smith again. “Here they 
are,” says he; “here ’s our captain and fifty men 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 383 

with him, have been hunting you these two hours: 
the boatswain is killed, Will Fry is wounded, and 
I am a prisoner ; and if you do not yield you are 
all lost.” “Will they give us quarter then,” says 
Tom Smith, “and we will yield ? ” “I will go ask 
if you promise toyield,” says Robinson : so he asked 
the captain; and the captain himself then calls out, 
“You, Smith, you know my voice; if you laydown 
your arms immediately, and submit, you shall have 
your lives, all but Will Atkins.” 



pon this Will Atkins cried out, “For God’s 



sake, captain, give me quarter ; what have I 
done ? They have all been as bad as I which, by 
the way, was not true neither ; for, it seems, this 
Will Atkins was the first man that laid hold of the 
captain when they first mutinied, and used him 
barbarously, in tying his hands, and giving him 
injurious language. However, the captain told him 
he must lay down his arms at discretion, and trust 
to the governor’s mercy : by which he meant me, 
for they all called me governor. In a word, they 
all laid down their arms, and begged their lives; 
and I sent the man that had parleyed with them, 
and two more, who bound them all; and then my 
great army of fifty men, which, particularly with 
those three, were in all but eight, came up and 
seized upon them, and upon their boat; only that 
I kept myself and one more out of sight for reasons 
of state. 

Our next work was to repair the boat, and think 
of seizing the ship : and as for the captain, now he 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 385 

had leisure to parley with them, he expostulated 
with them upon the villainy of their practices with 
him, and at length upon the further wickedness of 
their design, and how certainly it must bring them 
to misery and distress in the end, and perhaps to 
the gallows. They all appeared very penitent, and 
begged hard for their lives. As for that, he told 
them they were none of his prisoners, but the com- 
mander’s of the island; that they thought they had 
set him on shore on a barren, uninhabited island; 
but it had pleased God so to direct them, that it was 
inhabited, and that the governor was an English- 
man ; that he might hang them all there, if he 
pleased ; but as he had given them all quarter, he 
supposed he would send them to England, to be 
dealt with there as justice required, except Atkins, 
whom he was commanded by the governor to 
advise to prepare for death, for that he would be 
hanged in the morning. 

Though all this was but a fiction of his own, yet 
it had its desired effect: Atkins fell upon his knees, 
to beg the captain to intercede with the governor 
for his life ; and all the rest begged of him, for God’s 
sake, that they might not be sent to England. 

It now occurred to me that the time of our 
deliverance was come, and that it would be a most 
easy thing to bring these fellows in to be hearty in 
getting possession of the ship; so I retired in the 
dark from them, that they might not see what kind 
of a governor they had, and called the captain to 
me : when I called, as at a good distance, one of the 


386 THE ADVENTURES OF 

men was ordered to speak again, and say to the cap- 
tain, “ Captain, the commander calls for you ” ; and 
presently the captain replied, “Tell his excellency 
I am just a-coming.” This more perfectly amused 
them, and they all believed that the commander 
was just by with his fifty men. Upon the captain’s 
coming to me, I told him my project for seizing 
the ship, which he liked wonderfully well, and re- 
solved to put it in execution the next morning. 
But, in order to execute it with more heart, and to 
be secure of success, I told him we must divide the 
prisoners, and that he should go and take Atkins 
and two more of the worst of them, and send them 
pinioned to the cave where the others lay. This 
was committed to Friday and the two men who 
came on shore with the captain. They conveyed 
them to the cave as to a prison : and it was, indeed, 
a dismal place, especially to men in their condition. 
The others I ordered to my bower, as I called it, of 
which I have given a full description : and as it was 
fenced in, and they pinioned, the place was secure 
enough, considering they were upon their behaviour. 

To these in the morning I sent the captain, who 
was to enter into a parley with them ; in a word, to 
try them, and tell me whether he thought they 
might be trusted or no to go on board and sur- 
prise the ship. He talked to them of the injury 
done him, of the condition they were brought to, 
and that though the governor had given them quar- 
ter for their lives as to the present action, yet that 
if they were sent to England, they would all be 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 387 

hanged in chains, to be sure; but that if they would 
join in so just an attempt as to recover the ship, 
he would have the governor's engagement for their 
pardon. 

Any one may guess how readily such a proposal 
would be accepted by men in their condition; they 
fell down on their knees to the captain, and pro- 
mised, with the deepest imprecations, that they 
would be faithful to him to the last drop, and that 
they should owe their lives to him, and would go 
with him all over the world; that they would own 
him as a father as long as they lived. “ Well,” says 
the captain, “ I must go and tell the governor what 
you say, and see what I can do to bring him to con- 
sent to it.” So he brought me an account of the tem- 
per he found them in, and that he verily believed 
they would be faithful. However, that we might be 
very secure, I told him he should go back again and 
choose out those five, and tell them that they might 
see he did not want men, that he would take out 
those five to be his assistants, and that the gov- 
ernor would keep the other two, and the three that 
were sent prisoners to the castle (my cave) as host- 
ages for the fidelity of those five; and that if they 
proved unfaithful in the execution, the five hostages 
should be hanged in chains alive on the shore. This 
looked severe, and convinced them that the gov- 
ernor was in earnest : however, they had no way left 
them but to accept it; and it was now the business 
of the prisoners, as much as of the captain, to per- 
suade the other five to do their duty. 


388 THE ADVENTURES OF 

Our strength was now thus ordered for the ex- 
pedition : first, the captain, his mate, and passenger ; 
second, the two prisoners of the first gang, to whom, 
having their character from the captain, I had given 
their liberty, and trusted them with arms; third, 
the other two that I had kept till now in my bower 
pinioned, but, on the captain’s motion, had now 
released; fourth, these five released at last; so that 
they were twelve in all, besides five we kept pris- 
oners in the cave for hostages. 

I asked the captain if he was willing to venture 
with these hands on board the ship : but as for me 
and my man Friday, I did not think it was proper 
for us to stir, having seven men left behind; and 
it was employment enough for us to keep them 
asunder, and supply them with victuals. As to the 
five in the cave, I resolved to keep them fast, but 
Friday went in twice a day to them, to supply them 
with necessaries ; and I made the other two carry 
provisions to a certain distance, where Friday was 
to take it. 

When I showed myself to the two hostages, it 
was with the captain, who told them I was the person 
the governor had ordered to look after them ; and 
that it was the governor’s pleasure they should not 
stir anywhere but by my direction ; that if they did, 
they would be fetched into the castle, and be laid 
in irons : so that as we never suffered them to see 
me as a governor, I now appeared as another per- 
son, and spoke of the governor, the garrison, the 
castle, and the like, upon all occasions. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 389 

The captain now had no difficulty before him 
but to furnish his two boats, stop the breach of one, 
and man them. He made his passenger captain of 
one, with four of the men ; and himself, his mate, 
and five more, went in the other ; and they con- 
trived their business very well, for they came up to 
the ship about midnight. As soon as they came 
within call of the ship, he made Robinson hail them, 
and tell them they had brought off the men and 
the boat, but that it was a long time before they 
had found them, and the like, holding them in a 
chat till they came to the ship’s side; when the cap- 
tain and the mate, entering first, with their arms, 
immediately knocked down the second mate and 
carpenter with the butt end of their muskets, being 
very faithfully seconded by their men ; they secured 
all the rest that were upon the main and quarter 
decks, and began to fasten the hatches, to keep them 
down that were below; when the other boat and 
their men, entering at the fore-chains, secured the 
forecastle of the ship, and the scuttle which went 
down into the cook-room, making three men they 
found there prisoners. When this was done, and all 
safe upon deck, the captain ordered the mate, with 
three men, to break into the round-house, where 
the new rebel captain lay, who, having taken the 
alarm, had got up, and with two men and a boy 
had got fire-arms in their hands ; and when the mate, 
with a crow, split open the door, the new captain 
and his men fired boldly among them, and wounded 
the mate with a musket-ball, which broke his arm, 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


390 

and wounded two more of the men, but killed no- 
body. The mate, calling for help, rushed, however, 
into the round-house, wounded as he was, and with 
his pistol shot the new captain through the head, 
the bullet entering at his mouth, and came out again 
behind one of his ears, so that he never spoke a 
word more : upon which the rest yielded, and the 
ship was taken effectually, without any more lives 
lost. 

As soon as the ship was thus secured the captain 
ordered seven guns to be fired, which was the 
signal agreed upon with me to give me notice of 
his success, which you may be sure I was very glad 
to hear, having sat watching upon the shore for it 
till near two o’clock in the morning. Having thus 
heard the signal plainly, I laid me down ; and it 
having been a day of great fatigue to me, I slept 
very sound, till I was something surprised with the 
noise of a gun ; and presently starting up, I heard 
a man call me by the name of “ Governor, Gov- 
ernor,” and presently I knew the captain’s voice ; 
when climbing up to the top of the hill, there he 
stood, and pointing to the ship he embraced me in 
his arms, “ My dear friend and deliverer,” says he, 
“ there ’s your ship, for she is all yours, and so are 
we, and all that belong to her.” I cast my eyes to 
the ship, and there she rode within a little more 
than half a mile of the shore ; for they had weighed 
her anchor as soon as they were masters of her, and 
the weather being fair, had brought her to an anchor 
just against the mouth of the little creek ; and the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 391 

tide being up, the captain had brought the pinnace 
in near the place where I had first landed my rafts, 
and so landed just at my door. I was at first ready 
to sink down with surprise; for I saw my deliver- 
ance, indeed, visibly put into my hands, all things 
easy, and a large ship just ready to carry me away 
whither I pleased to go. At first, for some time, I was 
not able to answer him one word ; but as he had 
taken me in his arms, I held fast by him, or I should 
have fallen to the ground. He perceived the sur- 
prise, and immediately pulls a bottle out of his 
pocket, and gave me a dram of cordial, which he 
had brought on purpose for me. After I had drank 
it, I sat down upon the ground ; and though it 
brought me to myself, yet it was a good while 
before I could speak a word to him. All this time 
the poor man was in as great an ecstasy as I, only 
not under any surprise, as I was ; and he said a 
thousand kind and tender things to me, to com- 
pose and bring me to myself : but such was the 
flood of joy in my breast that it put all my spirits 
into confusion : at last it broke out into tears ; and 
in a little while after I recovered my speech, I then 
took my turn, and embraced him as my deliverer, 
and we rejoiced together. I told him I looked upon 
him as a man sent from Heaven to deliver me, 
and that the whole transaction seemed to be a chain 
of wonders ; that such things as these were the 
testimonies we had of a secret hand of providence 
governing the world, and an evidence that the eye 
of an infinite power could search into the remotest 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


39 ^ 

corner of the world, and send help to the miser- 
able whenever he pleased. I forgot not to lift up 
my heart in thankfulness to Heaven ; and what 
heart could forbear to bless him, who had not only 
in a miraculous manner provided for me in such 
a wilderness, and in such a desolate condition, but 
from whom every deliverance must always be ac- 
knowledged to proceed ? 

When we had talked a while, the captain told me 
he had brought me some little refreshment, such as 
the ship afforded, and such as the wretches that had 
been so long his masters had not plundered him of. 
Upon this he called aloud to the boat, and bade his 
men bring the things ashore that were for the gov- 
ernor ; and, indeed, it was a present as if I had been 
one that was not to be carried away with them, but 
as if I had been to dwell upon the island still. First, 
he had brought me a case of bottles full of excel- 
lent cordial waters, six large bottles of Madeira 
wine (the bottles held two quarts each), two pounds 
of excellent good tobacco, twelve good pieces of 
the ship’s beef, and six pieces of pork, with a bag of 
peas, and about a hundredweight of biscuit : he also 
brought me a box of sugar, a box of flour, a bag 
full of lemons, and two bottles of lime juice, and 
abundance of other things. But, besides these, 
and what was a thousand times more useful to me, 
he brought me six new clean shirts, six very good 
neckcloths, two pair of gloves, one pair of shoes, 
a hat, and one pair of stockings, with a very good 
suit of clothes of his own, which had been worn but 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 393 

very little ; in a word, he clothed me from head to 
foot. It was a very kind and agreeable present, as 
any one may imagine, to one in my circumstances ; 
but never was anything in the world of that kind 
so unpleasant, awkward, and uneasy, as it was to 
me to wear such clothes at first. 

After these ceremonies were past, and after all 
his good things were brought into my little apart- 
ment, we began to consult what was to be done 
with the prisoners we had ; for it was worth con- 
sidering whether we might venture to take them 
away with us or no, especially two of them, whom 
we knew to be incorrigible and refractory to the 
last degree ; and the captain said he knew they 
were such rogues that there was no obliging them, 
and if he did carry them away, it must be in irons, 
as malefactors, to be delivered over to justice at the 
first English colony he could come at; and I found 
that the captain himself was very anxious about it. 
Upon this I told him that, if he desired it, I would 
undertake to bring the two men he spoke of to 
make it their own request that he should leave 
them upon the island. “ I should be very glad 
of that,” says the captain, “ with all my heart.” 
“Well,” says I, “I will send for them up, and 
talk with them for you.” So I caused Friday and 
the two hostages, for they were now discharged, 
their comrades having performed their promise ; 
I say, I caused them to go to the cave, and bring 
up the five men, pinioned, as they were, to the 
bower, and keep them there till I came. After some 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


394 

time, I came thither dressed in my new habit; and 
now I was called Governor again. Being all met, 
and the captain with me, I caused the men to be 
brought before me, and I told them I had got a 
full account of their villanous behaviour to the 
captain, and how they had run away with the ship, 
and were preparing to commit farther robberies, 
but that Providence had ensnared them in their 
own ways, and that they were fallen into the pit 
which they had dug for others. I let them know 
that by my direction the ship had been seized; that 
she lay now in the road; and they might see, by 
and by, that their new captain had received the re- 
ward of his villainy, and that they would see him 
hanging at the yard-arm : that as to them, I wanted 
to know what they had to say why I should not 
execute them as pirates, taken in the fact, as by my 
commission they could not doubt but I had author- 
ity so to do. One of them answered in the name 
of the rest that they had nothing to say but this, 
that when they were taken, the captain promised 
them their lives, and they humbly implored my 
mercy. But I told them I knew not what mercy to 
show them ; for as for myself I had resolved to quit 
the island with all my men, and had taken passage 
with the captain to go for England ; and as for the 
captain he could not carry them to England other 
than as prisoners, in irons, to be tried for mutiny, 
and running away with the ship; the consequence 
of which, they must needs know, would be the gal- 
lows; so that I could not tell what was best for them, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 395 

unless they had a mind to take their fate in the 
island: if they desired that, as I had liberty to leave 
the island, I had some inclination to give them 
their lives, if they thought they could shift on 
shore. They seemed very thankful for it, and said 
they would much rather venture to stay there than 
be carried to England to be hanged : so I left it 
on that issue. 

However, the captain seemed to make some 
difficulty of it, as if he durst not leave them there. 
Upon this I seemed a little angry with the cap- 
tain, and told him that they were my prisoners, not 
his ; and seeing that I had offered them so much 
favour, I would be as good as my word; and that 
if he did not think fit to consent to it, I would set 
them at liberty, as I found them ; and if he did 
not like it, he might take them again if he could 
catch them. Upon this they appeared very thank- 
ful, and I accordingly set them at liberty, and bade 
them retire into the woods to the place whence 
they came, and I would leave them some fire- 
arms, some ammunition, and some directions how 
they should live very well, if they thought fit. 
Upon this I prepared to go on board the ship ; 
but told the captain I would stay that night to pre- 
pare my things, and desired him to go on board, 
in the mean time, and keep all right in the ship, 
and send the boat on shore next day for me ; or- 
dering him, at all events, to cause the new captain, 
who was killed, to be hanged at the yard-arm, that 
these men might see him. 


396 THE ADVENTURES OF 

When the captain was gone, I sent for the men 
up to me to my apartment, and entered seriously 
into discourse with them on their circumstances. 
I told them I thought they had made a right 
choice ; that if the captain had carried them away, 
they would certainly be hanged. I showed them the 
new captain hanging at the yard-arm of the ship, 
and told them they had nothing less to expect. 

When they had all declared their willingness to 
stay, I then told them I would let them into the 
story of my living there, and put them into the 
way of making it easy to them : accordingly, I gave 
them the whole history of the place, and of my 
coming to it ; showed them my fortifications, the 
way I made my bread, planted my corn, cured my 
grapes ; and, in a word, all that was necessary to 
make them easy. I told them the story also of the 
seventeen Spaniards that were to be expected, for 
whom I left a letter, and made them promise to 
treat them in common with themselves. Here it 
may be noted, that the captain had ink on board, 
who was greatly surprised that I never hit upon a 
way of making ink of charcoal and water, or of 
something else, as I had done things much more 
difficult. 

I left them my fire-arms, viz., five muskets, 
three fowling-pieces, and three swords. I had above 
a barrel and a half of powder left; for after the first 
year or two I used but little, and wasted none. I 
gave them a description of the way I managed the 
goats, and directions to milk and fatten them, and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 397 

to make both butter and cheese : in a word, I gave 
them every part of my own story, and told them 
I should prevail with the captain to leave them 
two barrels of gunpowder more, and some garden- 
seeds, which I told them I would have been very 
glad of : also I gave them the bag of peas which 
the captain had brought me to eat, and bade them 
be sure to sow and increase them. 

Having done all this, I left them the next day, 
and went on board the ship. We prepared imme- 
diately to sail, but did not weigh that night. The 
next morning early, two of the five men came 
swimming to the ship's side, and, making a most 
lamentable complaint of the other three, begged to 
be taken into the ship, for God’s sake, for they 
should be murdered, and begged the captain to 
take them on board, though he hanged them im- 
mediately. Upon this, the captain pretended to 
have no power without me ; but after some dif- 
ficulty, and after their solemn promises of amend- 
ment, they were taken on board, and were some 
time after soundly whipped and pickled : after 
which they proved very honest and quiet fellows. 

Some time after this, the boat was ordered on 
shore, the tide being up, with the things promised 
to the men ; to which the captain, at my interces- 
sion, caused their chests and clothes to be added, 
which they took, and were very thankful for. I 
also encouraged them, by telling them that if it 
lay in my power to send any vessel to take them 
in, I would not forget them. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


398 

When I took leave of this island, I carried on 
board, for reliques, the great goat-skin cap I had 
made, my umbrella, and one of my parrots ; also 
I forgot not to take the money I formerly men- 
tioned, which had laid by me so long useless that 
it was grown rusty or tarnished, and could hardly 
pass for silver till it had been a little rubbed and 
handled ; as also the money I found in the wreck 
of the Spanish ship. And thus I left the island, 
the 19th of December, as I found by the ship's 
account, in the year 1686, after I had been upon it 
eight-and-twenty years, two months, and nineteen 
days ; being delivered from this second captivity 
the same day of the month that I first made my 
escape in the long-boat, from among the Moors of 
Sallee. In this vessel, after a long voyage, I ar- 
rived in England the nth of June, in the year 
1687, having been thirty-five years absent. 



W hen I came to England, I was as perfect a 
stranger to all the world as if I had never 
been known there. My benefactor and faithful 
steward, whom I had left my money in trust with, 
was alive, but had had great misfortunes in the 
world ; was become a widow the second time, and 
very low in the world. I made her very easy as 
to what she owed me, assuring her I would give 
her no trouble ; but on the contrary, in gratitude 
for former care and faithfulness to me, I relieved 
her as my little stock would afford ; which, at 
that time, would indeed allow me to do but little 
for her ; but I assured her I would never forget 
her former kindness to me ; nor did I forget her 
when I had sufficient to help her, as shall be ob- 
served in its proper place. I went down afterwards 
into Yorkshire : but my father and mother were 
dead, and all the family extinct, except that I found 
two sisters, and two of the children of one of my 
brothers ; and as I had been long ago given over 
for dead, there had been no provision made for 


400 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


me : so that, in a word, I found nothing to relieve 
or assist me ; and that the little money I had would 
not do much for me as to settling in the world. 

I met with one piece of gratitude, indeed, which 
I did not expect ; and this was that the master of 
the ship whom I had so happily delivered, and by 
the same means saved the ship and cargo, having 
given a very handsome account to the owners of 
the manner how I had saved the lives of the men, 
and the ship, they invited me to meet them, and 
some other merchants concerned, and all together 
made me a very handsome compliment upon the 
subject, and a present of almost two hundred 
pounds sterling. 

But after making several reflections upon the 
circumstances of my life, and how little way this 
would go towards settling me in the world, I re- 
solved to go to Lisbon, and see if I might not come 
by some information of the state of my plantation 
in the Brazils, and of what was become of my part- 
ner, who, I had reason to suppose, had some years 
past given me over for dead. With this view I took 
shipping for Lisbon, where I arrived in April follow- 
ing ; my man F riday accompanying me very honestly 
in all these ramblings, and proving a most faithful 
servant upon all occasions. When I came to Lisbon, 
I found out, by inquiry, and to my particular satis- 
faction, my old friend the captain of the ship who 
first took me up at sea off the shore of Africa. He 
was now grown old, and had left off going to sea, 
having put his son, who was far from a young man. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 401 

into his ship, and who still used the Brazil trade. 
The old man did not know me: and, indeed, I 
hardly knew him: but I soon brought him to my 
remembrance, and as soon brought myself to his 
remembrance, when I told him who I was. 

After some passionate expressions of the old ac- 
quaintance between us, I inquired, you may be sure, 
after my plantation and my partner. The old man 
told me he had not been in the Brazils for about 
nine years; but that he could assure me that when 
he came away my partner was living; but the trust- 
ees, whom I had joined with him to take cogniz- 
ance of my part, were both dead: that, however, he 
believed I would have a very good account of the 
improvement of the plantation; for that upon the 
general belief of my being cast away and drowned, 
my trustees had given in the account of the pro- 
duce of my part of the plantation to the procurator- 
fiscal, who had appropriated it, in case I never came 
to claim it, one third to the king, and two thirds 
to the monastery of St. Augustine, to be expended 
for the benefit of the poor, and for the conversion of 
the Indians to the Catholic faith; but that if I ap- 
peared, or any one for me, to claim the inheritance, 
it would be restored : only that the improvement, or 
annual production, being distributed to charitable 
uses, could not be restored; but he assured me that 
the steward of the king's revenue from lands and the 
proviedore or steward of the monastery had taken 
great care all along that the incumbent, that is to 
say, my partner, gave every year a faithful account 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


402 

of the produce, of which they had duly received 
my moiety. I asked him if he knew to what height 
of improvement he had brought the plantation, and 
whether he thought it might be worth lookingafter; 
or whether, on my going thither, I should meet 
with any obstruction to my possessing my just right 
in the moiety. He told me he could not tell exactly 
to what degree the plantation was improved, but 
this he knew, that my partner was grown exceed- 
ing rich upon the enjoying his part of it; and that, 
to the best of his remembrance, he had heard that 
the king's third of my part, which was, it seems, 
granted away to some other monastery or religious 
house, amounted to above two hundred moidores 
a year; that as to my being restored to a quiet pos- 
session of it, there was no question to be made of 
that, my partner being alive to witness my title, 
and my name being also enrolled in the register of 
the country: also he told me that the survivors of 
my two trustees were very fair honest people, and 
very weal thy; and he believed I would not only have 
their assistance for putting me in possession, but 
would find a very considerable sum of money in 
their handsfor my account, being the produce of the 
farm while their fathers held the trust, and before 
it was given up, as above; which, as he remem- 
bered, was for about twelve years. 

I showed myself a little concerned and uneasy 
at this account, and inquired of the old captain how 
it came to pass that the trustees should thus dis- 
pose of my effects, when he knew that I had made 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 403 

my will, and had made him, the Portuguese captain, 
my universal heir, etc. 

He told me that was true; but that, as there was 
no proof of my being dead, he could not act as 
executor, until some certain account should come 
of my death ; and, besides, he was not willing to 
intermeddle with a thing so remote ; that itwas true 
he had registered my will, and put in his claim; 
and could he have given any account of my being 
dead or alive, he would have acted by procuration, 
and taken possession of the ingenio (so they called 
the sugar-house), and have given his son, who was 
now at the Brazils, orders to do it. “ But,” says the 
old man, “l have one piece of news to tell you, 
which, perhaps, may not be so acceptable to you 
as the rest; and that is, believing you were lost, 
and all the world believing so also, your partner 
and trustees did offer to account with me, in your 
name, for six or eight of the first years' profits, 
which I received. There being at that time great 
disbursements for increasing the works, building 
an ingenio, and buying slaves, it did not amount 
to near so much as afterwards it produced ; how- 
ever,” says the old man, “I shall give you a true 
account of what I have received in all, and how 
I have disposed of it.” 

After a few days' further conference with this 
ancient friend, he brought me an account of the 
first six years’ income of my plantation, signed by 
my partner and the merchant trustees, being always 
delivered in goods, viz., tobacco in roll, and sugar 


TH*E ADVENTURES OF 


404 

in chests, besides rum, molasses, etc., which is the 
consequence of a sugar-work; and I found, by this 
account, that every year the income considerably 
increased; but, as above, the disbursements being 
large, the sum at first was small : however, the old 
man let me see that he was debtor to me four hun- 
dred and seventy moidores of gold, besides sixty 
chests of sugar, and fifteen double rolls of tobacco, 
which were lost in his ship ; he having been ship- 
wrecked coming home to Lisbon, about eleven years 
after my leaving the place. The good man then 
began to complain of his misfortunes, and how he 
had been obliged to make use of my money to re- 
cover his losses, and buy him a share in a new ship. 
“ However, my old friend,” says he, “you shall not 
want a supply in your necessity; and as soon as my 
son returns you shall be fully satisfied.” Upon this, 
he pulls out an old pouch, and gives me one hun- 
dred and sixty Portugal moidores in gold ; and giv- 
ing the writings of his title to the ship, which his 
son was gone to the Brazils in, of which he was a 
quarter-part owner, and his son another, he puts 
them both into my hands, for security of the rest. 

I was too much moved with the honesty and 
kindness of the poor man to be able to bear this ; 
and remembering what he had done for me, how 
he had taken me up at sea, and how generously he 
had used me on all occasions, and particularly how 
sincere a friend he was now to me, I could hardly 
refrain weeping at what he had said to me ; there- 
fore I asked him if his circumstances admitted him 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 405 

to spare so much money at that time, and if it would 
not straiten him ? He told me he could not say but 
it might straiten him a little ; but, however, it was 
my money, and I might want it more than he. 

Everything the good man said was full of affec- 
tion, and I could hardly refrain from tears while he 
spoke ; in short, I took one hundred of the moi- 
dores, and called for a pen and ink to give him a 
receipt for them : then I returned him the rest, and 
told him if ever I had possession of the plantation, 
I would return the other to him also (as, indeed, I 
afterwards did) ; and that as to the bill of sale of his 
part in his son's ship, I would not take it by any 
means : but that if I wanted the money, I found he 
was honest enough to pay me ; and if I did not, but 
came to receive what he gave me reason to expect, 
I would never have a penny more from him. 

When this was past, the old man asked me if he 
should put me into a method to make my claim to 
my plantation? I told him I thought to go over to 
it myself. He said I might do so if I pleased; but 
that, if I did not, there were ways enough to secure 
my right, and immediately to appropriate the pro- 
fits to my use : and as there were ships in the river 
of Lisbon just ready to go away to Brazil, he made 
me enter my name in a public register, with his affi- 
davit, affirming, upon oath, that I was alive, and that 
I was the same person who took up the land for 
the planting the said plantation at first. This being 
regularly attested by a notary, and a procuration 
affixed, he directed me to send it, with a letter of 


4 o6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

his writing, to a merchant of his acquaintance at the 
place; and then proposed my staying with him till 
an account came of the return. 

Never was anything more honourable than the 
proceedings upon this procuration ; for in less than 
seven months I received a large packet from the 
survivors of my trustees, the merchants, for whose 
account I went to sea, in which were the following 
particular letters and papers enclosed. 

First, there was the account-current of the pro- 
duce of my farm or plantation, from the year when 
their fathers had balanced with my old Portugal 
captain, being for six years : the balance appeared 
to be one thousand one hundred and seventy-four 
moidores in my favour. 

Secondly, there was the account of four years 
more, while they kept the effects in their hands, 
before the government claimed the administration, 
as being the effects of a person not to be found, 
which they called civil death ; and the balance of this, 
the value of the plantation increasing, amounted to 
nineteen thousand four hundred and forty-six cru- 
sadoes, being about three thousand two hundred 
and forty moidores. 

Thirdly, there was the prior of Augustine’s ac- 
count, who had received the profits for above four- 
teen years; but not being to account for what was 
disposed of by the hospital, very honestly declared 
he had eight hundred and seventy-two moidores 
not distributed, which he acknowledged to my ac- 
count: as to the king’s part, that refunded nothing. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


407 


There was a letter of my partner's, congratulat- 
ing me very affectionately upon my being alive, 
giving me an account how the estate was improved, 
and what it produced a year ; with a particular of 
the number of squares or acres that it contained, how 
planted, how many slaves there were upon it, and, 
making two and twenty crosses for blessings, told 
me he had said so many Ave Marias to thank the 
Blessed Virgin that I was alive ; inviting me very 
passionately to come over and take possession of 
my own ; and, in the mean time, to give him orders 
to whom he should deliver my effects, if I did not 
come myself ; concluding with a hearty tender of 
his friendship and that of his family ; and sent me, 
as a present, seven fine leopards’ skins, which he 
had, it seems, received from Africa, by some other 
ship that he had sent thither, and who, it seems, had 
made a better voyage than I. He sent me also five 
chests of excellent sweetmeats, and a hundred pieces 
of gold uncoined, not quite so large as moidores. 
By the same fleet, my two merchant trustees shipped 
me one thousand two hundred chests of sugar, eight 
hundred rolls of tobacco, and the rest of the whole 
account in gold. 

I might well say now, indeed, that the latter end 
of Job was better than the beginning. It is im- 
possible to express the flutterings of my very heart 
when I found all my wealth about me ; for as the 
Brazil ships come all in fleets, the same ships which 
brought my letters brought my goods : and the 
effects were safe in the river before the letters came 


4 o8 THE ADVENTURES OF 

to my hand. In a word, I turned pale and grew sick ; 
and had not the old man run and fetched me a cor- 
dial, I believe the sudden surprise of joy had over- 
set nature, and I had died upon the spot : nay, after 
that, I continued very ill, and was so some hours, 
till a physician being sent for, and something of 
the real cause of my illness being known, he or- 
dered me to be let blood ; after which I had relief, 
and grew well : but I verily believe, if I had not been 
eased by a vent given in that manner to the spirits, 
I should have died. 

I was now master, all on a sudden, of above five 
thousand pounds sterling in money, and had an 
estate, as I might well call it, in the Brazils of above 
a thousand pounds a year, as sure as an estate of 
lands in England; and, in a word, I was in a con- 
dition which I scarce knew how to understand, or 
how to compose myself for the enjoyment of it. 
The first thing I did was to recompense my orig- 
inal benefactor, my good old captain, who had been 
first charitable to me in my distress, kind to me 
in my beginning, and honest to me at the end. I 
showed him all that was sent to me; I told him 
that next to the providence of Heaven, which dis- 
posed all things, it was owing to him; and that it 
now lay on me to reward him, which I would do a 
hundred-fold: so I first returned to him the hun- 
dred moidores I had received of him ; then I sent 
for a notary, and caused him to draw up a general 
release or discharge from the four hundred and 
seventy moidores, which he had acknowledged he 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


409 


owed me, in the fullest and firmest manner pos- 
sible. After which I caused a procuration to be 
drawn, empowering him to be my receiver of the 
annual profits of my plantation, and appointing my 
partner to account with him, and make the returns 
by the usual fleets to him in my name; and a clause 
in the end, being a grant of one hundred moidores 
a year to him during his life, out of the effects, and 
fifty moidores a year to his son after him, for his 
life: and thus I requited my old man. 

I was now to consider which way to steer my 
course next, and what to do with the estate that 
Providence had thus put into my hands; and, in- 
deed, I had more care upon my head now than I 
had in my silent state of life in the island, where I 
wanted nothing but what I had, and had nothing 
but what I wanted; whereas I had now a great 
charge upon me, and my business was how to se- 
cure it. I had never a cave now to hide my money 
in, or a place where it might lie without lock or key, 
till it grew mouldy and tarnished, before anybody 
would meddle with it; on the contrary, I knew not 
where to put it, or whom to trust with it. My old 
patron, the captain, indeed, was honest, and that was 
the only refuge I had. In the next place, my inter- 
est in the Brazils seemed to summon me thither; 
but now I could not tell how to think of going 
thither till I had settled my affairs, and left my 
effects in some safe hands behind me. At first I 
thought of my old friend the widow, who I knew 
was honest, and would be just to me ; but then she 


4io 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


was in years, and but poor, and for aught I knew, 
might be in debt: so that, in a word, I had rro way 
but to go back to England myself, and take my 
effects with me. 

It was some months, however, before I resolved 
upon this; and, therefore, as I had rewarded the old 
captain fully, and to his satisfaction, who had been 
my former benefactor, so I began to think of my 
poor widow, whose husband had been my first bene- 
factor, and she, while it was in her power, my faith- 
ful steward and instructor. So the first thing I did, 
I got a merchant in Lisbon to write to his corre- 
spondent in London, not only to pay a bill, but to 
go find her out, and carry her in money a hundred 
pounds for me, and to talk with her, and comfort 
her in her poverty; by telling her she should, if 
I lived, have a further supply: at the same time 
I sent my two sisters in the country a hundred 
pounds each, they being, though not in want, yet 
not in very good circumstances; one having been 
married and left a widow, and the other Jiaving a 
husband not so kind to her as he should be. But 
among all my relations or acquaintances, I could 
not yet pitch upon one to whom I durst commit 
the gross of my stock, that I might go away to the 
Brazils, and leave things safe behind me; and this 
greatly perplexed me. 

I had once a mind to have gone to the Brazils, 
and have settled myself there; for I was, as it were, 
naturalized to the place; but I had some little 
scruple in my mind about religion, which insensibly 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 4 n 

drew me back. However, it was not religion that 
kept me from going there for the present; and 
as I had made no scruple of being openly of the 
religion of the country all the while I was among 
them, so neither did I yet; only that, nowand then, 
having of late thought more of it than formerly, 
when I began to think of living and dying among 
them, I began to regret my having professed my- 
self a Papist, and thought it might not be the best 
religion to die with. 

But, as I have said, this was not the main thing 
that kept me from going to the Brazils, but that 
really I did not know with whom to leave my effects 
behind me: so I resolved, at last, to go to England 
with it, where, if I arrived, I concluded I should 
make some acquaintance, or find some relations that 
would be faithful to me; and, accordingly, I pre- 
pared to go to England with all my wealth. 

In order to prepare things for my going home, 
I first, the Brazil fleet being just going away, re- 
solved to give answers suitable to the just and faith- 
ful account of things I had from thence; and, first, 
to the prior of St. Augustine I wrote a letter full 
of thanks for their just dealings, and the offer of 
the eight hundred and seventy-two moidores which 
were undisposed of, which I desired might be given, 
five hundred to the monastery, and three hundred 
and seventy-two to the poor, as the prior should 
direct; desiring the good padre’s prayers for me, 
and the like. I wrote next a letter of thanks to my 
two trustees, with all the acknowledgment that so 


4i2 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


much justice and honesty called for; as for sending 
them any present, they were far above having any 
occasion for it. Lastly, I wrote to my partner, 
acknowledging his industry in the improving the 
plantation, and his integrity in increasing the stock 
of the works; giving him instructions for his future 
government of my part, according to the powers 
I had left with my old patron, to whom I desired 
him to send whatever became due to me, till he 
should hear from me more particularly ; assuring 
him that it was my intention not only to come to 
him, but to settle myself there for the remainder 
of my life. To this I added a very handsome pre- 
sent of some Italian silks for his wife and two 
daughters, for such the captain's son informed me 
he had; with two pieces of fine English broadcloth, 
the best I could get in Lisbon, five pieces of black 
baize, and some Flanders lace of a good value. 

Having thus settled my affairs, sold my cargo, 
and turned all my effects into good bills of ex- 
change, my next difficulty was, which way to go to 
England : I had been accustomed enough to the 
sea, and yet I had a strange aversion to go to Eng- 
land by sea at that time ; and though I could give 
no reason for it, yet the difficulty increased upon 
me so much, that though I had once shipped my 
baggage, in order to go, yet I altered my mind, and 
that not once, but two or three times. 

It is true, I had been very unfortunate by sea, 
and this might be some of the reasons ; but let no 
man slight the strong impulses of his own thoughts 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 413 

in cases of such moment : two of the ships which 
I had singled out to go in, I mean more particu- 
larly singled out than any other, having put my 
things on board one of them, and in the other to 
have agreed with the captain ; I say, two of these 
ships miscarried, viz., one was taken by the Alge- 
rines, and the other was cast away on the Start, near 
Torbay, and all the people drowned, except three; 
so that in either of those vessels I had been made 
miserable. 

Having been thus harassed in my thoughts, my 
old pilot, to whom I communicated everything, 
pressed me earnestly not to go by sea, but either 
to go by land to the Groyne (Corunna), and cross 
over the Bay of Biscay to Rochelle, from whence 
it was but an easy and safe journey by land to Paris, 
and so to Calais and Dover; or to go up to Madrid, 
and so all the way by land through France. In a 
word, I was so prepossessed against my going by 
sea at all, except from Calais to Dover, that I re- 
solved to travel all the way by land ; which, as I 
was not in haste, and did not value the charge, was 
by much the pleasanter way: and to make it more 
so, my old captain brought an English gentleman, 
the son of a merchant in Lisbon, who was willing 
to travel with me; after which we picked up two 
more English merchants also, and two young Por- 
tuguese gentlemen, the last going to Paris only; so 
that in all there were six of us, and five servants, 
the two merchants and the two Portuguese con- 
tenting themselves with one servant between two, 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


414 

to save the charge ; and as for me, I got an Eng- 
lish sailor to travel with me as a servant, besides 
my man Friday, who was too much a stranger to 
be capable of supplying the place of a servant on 
the road. 

In this manner 1 set out from Lisbon ; and our 
company being very well mounted and armed, we 
made a little troop, whereof they did me the hon- 
our to call me captain, as well because I was the 
oldest man as because I had two servants, and, in- 
deed, was the original of the whole journey. 

As I have troubled you with none of my sea 
journals, so I shall trouble you now with none of 
my land journal ; but some adventures that hap- 
pened to us in this tedious and difficult journey 
I must not omit. 

When we came to Madrid, we, being all of us 
strangers to Spain, were willing to stay some time 
to see the Court of Spain, and to see what was worth 
observing; but it being the latter part of the sum- 
mer, we hastened away, and set out from Madrid 
about the middle of October; but when we came 
to the edge of Navarre, we were alarmed, at several 
towns on the way, with an account that so much 
snow was fallen on the French side of the moun- 
tains that several travellers were obliged to come 
back to Pampeluna, after having attempted, at an 
extreme hazard, to pass on. 

When we came to Pampeluna itself, we found it 
so, indeed; and to me, that had been always used 
to a hot climate, and to countries where I could 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


4i5 

scarce bear any clothes on, the cold was insuffer- 
able: nor, indeed, was it more painful than surpris- 
ing to come but ten days before out of Old Castile, 
where the weather was not only warm but very hot, 
and immediately to feel a wind from the Pyrenean 
Mountains, so very keen, so severely cold, as to be 
intolerable, and to endanger the benumbing and 
perishing of our fingers and toes. 

Poor Friday was really frightened when he saw 
the mountains all covered with snow, and felt cold 
weather, which he had never seen or felt before in 
his life. To mend the matter, when we came to 
Pampeluna it continued snowing with so much 
violence, and so long, that the people said winter 
was come before its time, and the roads, which were 
difficult before, were now quite impassable ; for, in 
a word, the snow lay in some places too thick for 
us to travel, and being not hard frozen, as is the 
case in the northern countries, there was no going 
without being in danger of being buried alive every 
step. We stayed no less than twenty days at Pam- 
peluna ; when seeing the winter coming on, and no 
likelihood of its being better, for it was the severest 
winter all over Europe that had been known in the 
memory of man, I proposed that we should all go 
away to Fontarabia, and there take shipping for 
Bourdeaux, which was a very little voyage. But 
while I was considering this, there came in four 
French gentlemen, who, having been stopped on 
the French side of the passes as we were on the 
Spanish, had found out a guide, who, traversing the 


4 i 6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

country near the head of Languedoc, had brought 
them over the mountains by such ways that they 
were not much incommoded with the snow ; for 
where they met with snow in any quantity, they 
said it was frozen hard enough to bear them and 
their horses. We sent for this guide, who told us 
he would undertake to carry us the same way with 
no hazard from the snow, provided we were armed 
sufficiently to protect ourselves from wild beasts: 
for, he said, upon these great snows it was frequent 
for some wolves to show themselves at the foot 
of the mountains, being made ravenous for want of 
food, the ground being covered with snow. We 
told him we were well enough prepared for such 
creatures as they were, if he would insure us from 
a kind of two-legged wolves, which, we were told, 
we were in most danger from, especially on the 
French side of the mountains. He satisfied us that 
there was no danger of that kind in the way that 
we were to go : so we readily agreed to follow him, 
as did also twelve other gentlemen, with their serv- 
ants, some French, some Spanish, who, as I said, 
had attempted to go, and were obliged to come 
back again. 

Accordingly, we set out from Pampeluna, with 
our guide, on the 15th of November; and, indeed, 
I was surprised when, instead of going forward, he 
came directly back with us on the same road that 
we came from Madrid, about twenty miles; when, 
having passed two rivers, and come into the plain 
country, we found ourselves in a warm climate 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


4i7 

again, where the country was pleasant, and no snow 
to be seen; but on a sudden turning to his left, he 
approached the mountains another way, and though 
it is true the hills and precipices looked dreadful, 
yet he made so many tours, such meanders, and 
led us by such winding ways, that we insensibly 
passed the height of the mountains without being 
much incumbered with the snow; and, all on a sud- 
den, he showed us the pleasant fruitful provinces 
of Languedoc and Gascony, all green and flourish- 
ing, though, indeed, at a great distance, and we had 
some rough way to pass still. 

We were a little uneasy, however, when we found 
it snowed one whole day and a night, so fast that 
we could not travel ; but he bid us be easy ; we 
should soon be past it all : we found, indeed, that 
we began to descend every day, and to come more 
north than before; and so, depending upon our 
guide, we went on. 



I t was about two hours before night when, our 
guide being something before us, and not just 
in sight, out rushed three monstrous wolves, and 
after them a bear, out of a hollow way, adjoining 
to a thick wood ; two of the wolves made at the 
guide, and had he been far before us, he would have 
been devoured before we could have helped him; 
one of them fastened upon his horse, and the other 
attacked the man with that violence, that he had 
not time, or presence of mind enough, to draw his 
pistol, but hallooed and cried out to us most lustily. 
My man Friday being next me, I bade him ride 
up, and see what was the matter. As soon as Fri- 
day came in sight of the man, he hallooed out as 
loud as the other, “ O master ! O master ! ” but, 
like a bold fellow, rode directly up to the poor man, 
and with his pistol shot the wolf, that attacked him, 
in the head. 

It was happy for the poor man that it was my 
man Friday; for he having been used to such crea- 
tures in his country, he had no fear respecting 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


419 

them, but went close up to him and shot him as 
above ; whereas any other of us would have fired 
at a greater distance, and have perhaps either 
missed the wolf, or endangered shooting the 
man. 

But it was enough to have terrified a bolder man 
than I, and, indeed, it alarmed all our company, 
when, with the noi^e of Friday’s pistol, we heard 
on both sides the most dismal howling of wolves; 
and the noise, redoubled by the echo of the moun- 
tains, appeared to us as if there had been a prodi- 
gious number of them ; and, perhaps, there was not 
such a few as that we had no cause of apprehensions: 
however, as Friday had killed this wolf, the other 
that had fastened upon the horse left him imme- 
diately, and fled, without doing him any damage, 
having happily fastened upon his head, where the 
bosses of the bridle had stuck in his teeth. But the 
man was most hurt ; for the raging creature had 
bit him twice, once in the arm, and the other time 
a little above his knee; and though he had made 
some defence, he was just as it were tumbling down 
by the disorder of his horse, when Friday came up 
and shot the wolf. 

It is easy to suppose that at the noise of Friday’s 
pistol we all mended our pace, and rode up as fast 
as the way, which was very difficult, would give us 
leave, to see what was the matter. As soon as we 
came clear of the trees, which blinded us before, we 
saw clearly what had been the case, and how Fri- 
day had disengaged the poor guide, though we did 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


420 

not presently discern what kind of creature it was 
he had killed. 

But never was a fight managed so hardily, and 
in such a surprising manner, as that which followed 
between Friday and the bear, which gave us all, 
though at first we were surprised and afraid for him, 
the greatest diversion imaginable. As the bear is a 
heavy, clumsy creature, and does not gallop as the 
wolf does, who is swift and light, so he has two par- 
ticular qualities, which generally are the rule of his 
actions : first, as to men, who are not his proper 
prey (he does not usually attempt them, except 
they first attack him, unless he be excessively hun- 
gry, which it is probable might now be the case, the 
ground being covered with snbw), if you do not 
meddle with him, he will not meddle with you : but 
then you must take care to be very civil to him and 
give him the road, for he is a very nice gentleman ; 
he will not go a step out of his way for a prince ; 
nay, if you are really afraid, your best way is to look 
another way, and keep going on ; for sometimes, 
if you stop, and stand still, and look steadfastly at 
him, he takes it for an affront ; but if you throw or 
toss anything at him, and it hits him, though it 
were but a bit of stick as big as your finger, he thinks 
himself abused, and sets all other business aside to 
pursue his revenge, and will have satisfaction in 
point of honour, — this is his first quality : the next 
is, if he be once affronted, he will never leave you, 
night nor day, till he has his revenge, but follows, 
at a good round rate, till he overtakes you. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


421 

My man Friday had delivered our guide, and 
when we came up to him he was helping him off 
from his horse, for the man was both hurt and 
frightened, when, on a sudden, we espied the bear 
come out of the wood, and a vast, monstrous one 
it was, the biggest by far that ever I saw. We were 
all a little surprised when we saw him ; but when 
Friday saw him, it was easy to see joy and courage 
in the fellow’s countenance ; “ O, O, O !” says Fri- 
day, three times, pointing to him ; “ O master, you 
give me te leave, me shakee te hand with him ; me 
makee you good laugh.” 

I was surprised to see the fellow so well pleased : 
“ You fool,” says I, “ he will eat you up.” “Eatee 
me up ! eatee me up ! ” says Friday, twice over 
again ; “ me eatee him up ; me makee you good 
laugh : you all stay here, me show you good laugh.” 
So down he sits, and gets off his boots in a mo- 
ment, and puts on a pair of pumps (as we call the 
flatshoes they wear, and which he had in his pocket), 
gives my other servant his horse, and with his gun 
away he flew, swift like the wind. 

The bear was walking softly on, and offered to 
meddle with nobody, till Friday, coming pretty 
near, calls to him, as if the bear could understand 
him, “Hark ye, hark ye,” says Friday, “me speakee 
with you.” We followed at a distance; for now, 
beingcome down on the Gascony side of the moun- 
tains, we were entered a vast great forest, where the 
country was plain and pretty open, though it had 
many trees in it scattered here and there. Friday, 


422 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


who had, as we say, the heels of the bear, came up 
with him quickly, and takes up a great stone and 
throws it at him, and hit him just on the head, but 
did him no more harm than if he had thrown it 
against a wall ; but it answered Friday’s end, for 
the rogue was so void of fear that he did it purely 
to make the bear follow him, and show us “ some 
laugh,” as he called it. As soon as the bear felt the 
blow, and saw him, he turns about, and comes after 
him, taking devilish long strides, and shuffling on 
at a strange rate, such as would have put a horse to 
a middling gallop ; away runs Friday, and takes his 
course as if he run towards us for help ; so we all 
resolved to fire at once upon the bear, and deliver 
my man ; though I was angry at him heartily for 
bringing the bear back upon us, when he was go- 
ing about his own business another way ; and 
especially I was angry that he had turned the bear 
upon us, and then run away; and I called out, 
“ You dog, is this your making us laugh ? Come 
away, and take your horse, that we may shoot the 
creature.” He heard me, and cried out, “ No shoot, 
no shoot ; stand still, and you get much laugh ” ; and 
as the nimble creature ran two feet for the bear’s 
one, he turned on a sudden, on one side of us, and 
seeing a great oak tree fit for his purpose, he beck- 
oned to us to follow ; and doubling his pace, he 
gets nimbly up the tree, laying his gun down upon 
the ground, at about five or six yards from the 
bottom of the tree. The bear soon came to the tree, 
and we followed at a distance: the first thing he 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


4*3 

did, he stopped at the gun, smelt to it, but let it 
lie, and up he scrambles into the tree, climbing like 
a cat, though so monstrous heavy. I was amazed at 
the folly, as I thought it, of my man, and could not 
for my life see anything to laugh at yet, till, seeing 
the bear get up the tree, we all rode near to him. 

When we came to the tree, there was Friday got 
out to the small end of a large branch, and the bear 
got about halfway to him. As soon as the bear got 
out to that part where the limb of the tree was 
weaker, — £C Ha ! ” says he to us , “ now you see me 
teachee the bear dance” ; so he falls a-jumping and 
shaking the bough, at which the bear began to tot- 
ter, but stood still, and began to look behind him, 
to see how he should get back ; then, indeed, we 
did laugh heartily. But Friday had not done with 
him by a great deal ; when, seeing him stand still, 
he calls out to him again, as if he had supposed the 
bear could speak English, cc What, you come no far- 
ther P pray you come farther” ; so he left jumping 
and shaking the tree, and the bear, just as if he 
understood what he said, did come a little farther; 
then he fell a-jumping again and the bear stopped 
again. We thought now was a good time to knock 
him on the head, and called to Friday to stand still, 
and we would shoot the bear ; but he cried out 
earnestly, “ O pray ! O pray ! no shoot, me shoot 
by and then.” He would have said ££ by and by.” 
However, to shorten the story, Friday danced so 
much, and the bear stood so ticklish, that we had 
laughing enough, but still could not imagine what 


424 THE ADVENTURES OF 

the fellow would do : for first we thought he de- 
pended upon shaking the bear off, and we found the 
bear was too cunning for that too ; for he would not 
go out far enough to be thrown down, but clings 
fast with his great broad claws and feet, so that we 
could not imagine what would be the end of it, and 
what the jest would be at last. But Friday puts us 
out of doubt quickly : for seeing the bear cling fast 
to the bough, and that he would not be persuaded 
to come any farther, — “ Well, well,” says Friday, 
“you no come farther, me go ; you no come tome, 
me come to you” : and upon this he goes out to 
the smaller end of the bough, where it would bend 
with his weight, and gently lets himself down by it, 
sliding down the bough, till he came near enough to 
jump down on his feet, and away he runs to his gun, 
takes it up, and stands still. “ Well,” said I to him, 
“ Friday, what will you do now ? Why don’t you 
shoot him?” “No shoot,” says Friday, “no yet; 
me no shoot now, me no kill ; me stay, give you one 
more laugh.” And, indeed, so he did, as you will 
see presently; for when the bear saw his enemy 
gone, he comes back from the bough where he 
stood, but did it mighty cautiously, looking behind 
him every step, and coming backward till he got 
into the body of the tree; then, with the same 
hinder-end foremost, he came down the tree, grasp- 
ing it with his claws, and moving one foot at a time, 
very leisurely. At this juncture, and just before 
he could set his hind-foot on the ground, Friday 
stepped up close to him, clapped the muzzle of his 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


425 

piece into his ear, and shot him dead. Then the 
rogue turned about, to see if we did not laugh ; and 
when he saw we were pleased, by our looks, he falls 
a-laughing himself very loud. “ So we kill bear in 
my country,” says Friday. “ So you kill them?” 
says I ; cc why you have no guns.” “No,” says he, 
“ no gun, but shoot great much long arrow.” This 
was a good diversion to us ; but we were still in a 
wild place, and our guide very much hurt, and what 
to do we hardly knew : the howling of wolves run 
much in my head ; and, indeed, except the noise I 
once heard on the shore of Africa, of which I have 
said something already, I never heard anything that 
filled me with so much horror. 

These things, and the approach of night, called 
us off, or else, as Friday would have had us, we 
should certainly have taken the skin of this mon- 
strous creature off, which was worth saving; but 
we had near three leagues to go, and our guide 
hastened us, so we left him, and went forward on 
our journey. 

The ground was still covered with snow, though 
not so deep and dangerous as on the mountains ; 
and the ravenous creatures, as we heard afterwards, 
were come down into the forest and plain country, 
pressed by hunger, to seek for food, and had done 
a great deal of mischief in the villages, where they 
surprised the country people, killed a great many 
of their sheep and horses, and some people too. 
We had one dangerous place to pass, of which our 
guide told us, if there were more wolves in the 


426 THE ADVENTURES OF 

country, we should find them there; and this was a 
small plain, surrounded with woods on every side, 
and a long narrow defile, or lane, which we were to 
pass to get through the wood, and then we should 
come to the village where we were to lodge. It was 
within half an hour of sunset when we entered the 
first wood, and a little after sunset when we came 
into the plain. We met with nothing in the first 
wood, except that, in a little plain within the wood, 
which was not above two furlongs over, we saw five 
great wolves cross the road, full speed one after 
another, as if they had been in chase of some prey, 
and had it in view; they took no notice of us, and 
were gone out of sight in a few moments. Upon 
this our guide, who, by the way, was but a faint- 
hearted fellow, bid us keep in a ready posture, for 
he believed there were more wolves a-coming. We 
kept our arms ready, and our eyes about us ; but we 
saw no more wolves till we came through that wood, 
which was near half a league, and entered the plain. 
As soon as we came into the plain, we had occa- 
sion enough to look about us: the first object we 
met with was a dead horse, that is to say, a poor 
horse which the wolves had killed, and at least a 
dozen of them at work, we could not say eating of 
him, but picking of his bones rather: for they had 
eaten up all the flesh before. We did not think fit 
to disturb them at their feast; neither did they 
take much notice of us. Friday would have let fly 
at them, but I would not suffer him by any means; 
for I found we were like to have more business 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


427 

upon our hands than we were aware of. We were 
not gone half over the plain, when we began to hear 
the wolves howl in the wood on our left in a fright- 
ful manner, and presently after we saw about a hun- 
dred coming on directly towards us, all in a body, 
and most of them in a line, as regularly as an army 
drawn up by an experienced officer. I scarce knew 
in what manner to receive them, but found to draw 
ourselves in a close line was the only way ; so we 
formed in a moment: but that we might not have 
too much interval, I ordered that only every other 
man should fire, and that the others who had not 
fired should stand ready to give them a second vol- 
ley immediately, if they continued to advance upon 
us; and then that those who had fired at first should 
not pretend to load their fusees again, but stand 
ready every one with a pistol, for we were all armed 
with a fusee and a pair of pistols each man; so we 
were, by this method, able to fire six volleys, half 
of us at a time. However, at present we had no 
necessity : for upon firing the first volley, the enemy 
made a full stop, being terrified as well with the 
noise as with the fire; four of them, being shot in 
the head, dropped; several others were wounded, 
and went bleeding off, as we could see by the snow. 
I found they stopped, but did not immediately re- 
treat; whereupon, remembering that I had been 
told that the fiercest creatures were terrified at the 
voice of a man, I caused all the company to halloo 
as loud as we could; and I found the notion not 
altogether mistaken; for upon our shout they 


428 THE ADVENTURES OF 

began to retire and turn about. I then ordered a 
second volley to be fired in their rear, which put 
them to the gallop, and away they went to the 
woods. This gave us leisure to charge our pieces 
again ; and that we might lose no time, we kept 
going; but we had but little more than loaded our 
fusees, and put ourselves in readiness, when we 
heard a terrible noise in the same wood, on our left, 
only that it was farther onward, the same way we 
were to go. 

The night was coming on, and the light began 
to be dusky, which made it worse on our side; but 
the noise increasing, we could easily perceive that 
it was the howling and yelling of those hellish crea- 
tures ; and on a sudden we perceived two or three 
troops of wolves, one on our left, one behind us, 
and one in our front, so that we seemed to be sur- 
rounded with them : however, as they did not fall 
upon us, we kept our way forward, as fast as we 
could make our horses go, which, the way being 
very rough, was only a good hard trot. In this man- 
ner we came in view of the entrance of the wood, 
through which we were to pass, at the farther side 
of the plain; but we were greatly surprised, when, 
coming nearer the lane or pass, we saw a confused 
number of wolves standing just at the entrance. 
On a sudden, at another opening of the wood, we 
heard the noise of a gun, and looking that way out 
rushed a horse, with a saddle and a bridle on him 
flying like the wind, and sixteen or seventeen wolves 
after him full speed ; indeed, the horse had the heels 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 429 

of them, but as we supposed that he could not hold 
it at that rate, we doubted not but they would get 
up with him at last; no question but they did. 

But here we had a most horrible sight ; for rid- 
ing up to the entrance where the horse came out, 
we found the carcasses of another horse and of two 
men, devoured by the ravenous creatures; and one 
of the men was no doubt the same whom we heard 
fire the gun, for there lay a gun just by him, fired 
off ; but as to the man, his head and the upper 
part of his body were eaten up. This filled us with 
horror, and we knew not what course to take; but 
the creatures resolved us soon, for they gathered 
about us presently, in hopes of prey ; and I verily 
believe there were three hundred of them. It hap- 
pened very much to our advantage that at the en- 
trance into the wood, but a little way from it, there 
lay some large timber trees, which had been cut 
down the summer before, and I suppose lay there 
for carriage. I drew my little troop in among those 
trees, and, placing ourselves in a line behind one 
long tree, I advised them all to alight, and keeping 
that tree before us for a breastwork, to stand in 
a triangle or three fronts enclosing our horses in 
the centre. We did so, and it was well we did; for 
never was a more furious charge than the creatures 
made upon us in this place. They came on with a 
growling kind of noise, and mounted the piece of 
timber, which, as I said, was our breastwork, as if 
they were only rushing upon their prey; and this 
fury of theirs, it seems, was principally occasioned 


430 THE ADVENTURES OF 

by their seeing our horses behind us. I ordered our 
men to fire as before, every other man : and they 
took their aim so sure that they killed several of 
the wolves at the first volley ; but there was a ne- 
cessity to keep a continual firing, for they came on 
like devils, those behind pushing on those before. 

When we had fired a second volley of our fusees, 
we thought they stopped a little, and I hoped 
they would have gone off; but it was but a mo- 
ment, for others came forward again : so we fired 
two volleys of our pistols ; and I believe in these 
four firings we had killed seventeen or eighteen of 
them, and lamed twice as many, yet they came on 
again. I was loth to spend our shot too hastily; so I 
called my servant, not my man Friday, for he was 
better employed, for, with the greatest dexterity 
imaginable, he had charged my fusee and his own 
while we were engaged: but as I said, I called my 
other man, and giving him a horn of powder, I bade 
him lay a train all along the piece of timber, and let 
it be a large train. He did so; and had but just time 
toget away, when the wolves came up toit,and some 
got upon it, when I, snapping an uncharged pistol 
close to the powder, set it on fire : those that were 
upon the timber were scorched with it; and six 
or seven of them fell or rather jumped in among 
us, with the force and fright of the fire : we dis- 
patched these in an instant, and the rest were so 
frightened with the light, which the night, for it was 
now very near dark, made more terrible, that they 
drew back a little ; upon which I ordered our last 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


43 1 

pistols to be fired off in one volley, and after that 
we gave a shout: upon this the wolves turned tail, 
and we sallied immediately upon near twenty lame 
ones, that we found struggling on the ground, and 
fell a-cutting them with our swords, which an- 
swered our expectation ; for the crying and howl- 
ing they made was better understood by their fel- 
lows; so that they all fled and left us. 

We had, first and last, killed about threescore 
of them; and had it been daylight, we had killed 
many more. The field of battle being thus cleared, 
we made forward again, for we had still near a 
league to go. We heard the ravenous creatures 
howl and yell in the woods as we went, several times, 
and sometimes we fancied we saw some of them, 
but the snow dazzling our eyes, we were not cer- 
tain: in about an hour more we came to the town 
where we were to lodge, which we found in a ter- 
rible fright, and all in arms; for, it seems, the night 
before, the wolves and some bears had broke into 
the village, and put them in such terror that they 
were obliged to keep guard night and day, but 
especially in the night, to preserve their cattle, and, 
indeed, their people. 

The next morning our guide was so ill, and his 
limbs swelled so much with the rankling of his two 
wounds, that he could go no farther; so we were 
obliged to take a new guide here, and go to Thou- 
louse, where we found a warm climate, a fruitful 
pleasant country, and no snow, no wolves, nor any- 
thing like them ; but when we told our story at 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


43 2 

Thoulouse, they told us it was nothing but what 
was ordinary in the great forest at the foot of the 
mountains, especially when the snow lay on the 
ground; but they inquired much what kind of a 
guide we had got, who would venture to bringusthat 
way in such a severe season ; and told us it was sur- 
prising we were not all devoured. When we told 
them how we placed ourselves, and the horses in the 
middle, they blamed us exceedingly, and told us 
it was fifty to one but we had been all destroyed; 
for it was the sight of the horses which made the 
wolves so furious, seeing their prey: and that, at 
other times, they are really afraid of a gun; but be- 
ing excessive hungry, and raging on that account, 
the eagerness to come at the horses had made them 
senseless of danger; and that if we had not, by the 
continued fire, and at last by the stratagem of the 
train of powder, mastered them, it had been great 
odds but that we had been torn to pieces : whereas, 
had we been content to have sat still on horseback, 
and fired as horsemen, they would not have taken 
the horses so much for their own, when men were 
on their backs, as otherwise; and withal they told 
us, that, at last, if we had stood altogether, and left 
our horses, they would have been so eager to have 
devoured them that we might have come off safe, 
especially having our fire-arms in our hands, and 
being so many in number. For my part, I was 
never so sensible of danger in my life; for seeing 
above three hundred devils come roaring and open- 
mouthed to devour us, and having nothing to shel- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


433 

ter us, or retreat to, I gave myself over for lost; and, 
as it was, I believe I shall never care to cross those 
mountains again: I think I would much rather go 
a thousand leagues by sea, though I was sure to 
meet with a storm once a week. 

I have nothing uncommon to take notice of in 
my passage through France, nothing but what other 
travellers have given an account of, with much 
more advantage than I can. I travelled from Thou- 
louse to Paris, and without any considerable stay 
came to Calais, and landed safe at Dover, the 14th 
of January, after having a severe cold season to 
travel in. 

I was now come to the centre of my travels, and 
had in a little time all my new discovered estate safe 
about me; the bills of exchange which I brought 
with me having been very currently paid. 

My principal guide and privy counsellor was 
my good ancient widow, who, in gratitude for the 
money I had sent her, thought no pains too much, 
nor care too great, to employ for me; and I trusted 
her so entirely with everything that I was per- 
fectly easy as to the security of my effects: and, 
indeed, I was very happy from the beginning, and 
now to the end, in the unspotted integrity of this 
good gentlewoman. 

I now resolved to dispose of my plantation in 
the Brazils, if I could find means. For this pur- 
pose, I wrote to my old friend at Lisbon, who hav- 
ing offered it to the two merchants, the survivors 
of my trustees, who lived in the Brazils, they ac- 


434 


THE ADVENTURES OF 


cepted the offer, and remitted thirty-three thou- 
sand pieces-of-eight to a correspondent of theirs 
at Lisbon, to pay for it. Having signed the in- 
strument of sale, and sent it to my old friend, he 
remitted me bills of exchange for thirty-two thou- 
sand eight hundred pieces-of-eight for the estate, 
reserving the payment of a hundred moidores a 
year to himself during his life, and fifty moidores 
afterwards to his son for life, which I had pro- 
mised them. 

Though I had sold my estate in the Brazils, yet 
I could not keep the country out of my head; nor 
could I resist the strong inclination I had to see my 
island. My true friend, the widow, earnestly dis- 
suaded me from it, and so far prevailed with me 
that, for almost seven years, she .prevented my run- 
ning abroad; during which time I took my two 
nephews, the children . of one of my brothers, into 
my care: the eldest having something of his own, 
I bred up as a gentleman, and gave him a settle- 
ment of some addition to his estate, after my de- 
cease. The other I put out to a captain of a ship; 
and after five years, finding him a sensible, bold, 
enterprising young fellow, I put him into a good 
ship, and sent him to sea: and this young fellow 
afterwards ,drew me in, old as I was, to further 
adventures myself. 

In the mean time, I in part settled myself here; 
for, first of all, I married, and that not either to my 
disadvantage or dissatisfaction, and had three 
children, two sons and one daughter; but my wife 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


435 

dying, and my nephew coming home with good 
success from a voyage to Spain, my inclination to go 
abroad and his importunity prevailed, and engaged 
me to go in his ship as a private trader to the East 
Indies: this was in the year 1694. 

But these things, with some very surprising in- 
cidents in some new adventures of my own, for ten 
years more, I may perhaps give a further account 
of hereafter. 


(21 be lfttoer?it}c 

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